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Situated about 30km South of Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu county is Siliboi village in Olare Ward of Ainabkoi Sub-county.

Unknown to many, it is at the sleepy village that South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir survived a plane crash in 1993 which claimed the life of one person.

Residents who spoke to People Daily on a tour of the area on Saturday remember with nostalgia the events of that day.

Apparently, many residents who helped the injured after the crash were not even aware that one person they were helping (Kiir) could one day become President.

Kiir was accompanied by a high-powered delegation among them ambassadors and other senior government officials when the crash occurred.

One old man Kipkering’ Chepkwony, 62, was the one who helped ferry the survivors including Kiir using his Bedford lorry to a hospital in Eldama Ravine.

“The delegation was a mixture of Africans and whites. We just assumed that the blacks were Kenyans. Little did I know that Kiir who was later to be president was one of them,” Chepkwony told People Daily.

Collected documents

People Daily established for two years after the crash, the residents did not open the documents collected on the plane but one day out of curiosity, they decided to check, only to discover that they belonged to Sudanese citizens, and what was interesting of it all was that Kiir was part of the occupants with his passport and armlet written SPLA and SPLM.

“After two years, we discovered that Salva Kiir was among the passengers we had rescued through their passport and armlet written SPLA and SPLM,” said Michael Keston, a resident.

In September last year, South Sudan authorities managed to locate the site of Kiir’s accident of 1993 and recovered his passport.

The travel document along with those belonging to other passengers who were on board the plane had been safely kept by a family that also collected armlets from the scene of the accident.

The team also visited Torongo Health Center, Eldama Ravine Sub County Referral Hospital, and Mercy Mission Hospital where survivors of the plane crash were rushed.

On Sunday, Uasin-Gishu County government hosted a delegation from South Sudan which visited the county as part of the celebrations to mark 30 years since the plane crash.

Eldoret Municipality chairperson Julius Kitur who represented Governor Jonathan Bii noted that the county will initiate a public participation exercise to identify development programs that will be supported by President Kiir.

This follows a proposal by the team to support several programs at the village where residents helped to take Kiir and his team to hospital.  “We will conduct a public participation exercise for you to decide on the key priority areas that will be beneficial to all residents here,” said Kitur.

He said that the devolved unit will work together with the South Sudan Government for the success of projects that will be initiated.

Cordial relationship

South Sudan Minister for Presidential Affairs Dr Barnaba Marial Benjamin who headed the delegation said a mark was left in the region following the accident and the assistance given to help their President has brought about a cordial relationship between Kenya and Southern Sudan.

“The president is very grateful to you people for saving his life and today we have planted trees to signify life. The crash happened at a time when we were fighting for the freedom of the Republic of South Sudan and the Kenyan republic has always given us support since,” said Benjamin.

Uasin-Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago thanked President Kiir for considering to send a team to visit the scene.

He stressed the need to strengthen the relationship and putting up proper structures to promote international trade.

Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga, his Eldama-Ravine counterpart Musa Sirma, Olaare Member of County Assembly Gilbert Chepkonga and government officials from Baringo and Uasin-Gishu counties were also present.