ODM leader Raila Odinga consoles ODM-nominated Senator Betty Batuli Montet on March 15, 2025.Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is in Machakos to attend the burial of Colonel (Rtd) James Gitahi, who tragically lost his life in a grisly road accident a week ago.
Gitahi passed away on March 7 in a fatal crash at Kyumvi Junction on Mombasa Highway after his vehicle collided head-on with an oncoming lorry, bursting into flames.
The retired military pilot, who was alone in his saloon car, died on the spot after his body was severely burned.
Gitahi was the husband of ODM-nominated Senator Betty Batuli
Montet.
Though retired from the military, he continued working as a commercial pilot at Wilson Airport.
During his time in the Kenya Air Force, Gitahi served as a trusted pilot for former President Daniel Arap Moi, flying him for nearly two decades.
He also piloted former President Mwai Kibaki between 1992 and 2010, before retiring.
He took over the role in 1992 from Colonel Hussein
Farrah, who had served under Moi’s administration since 1984.
Eyewitnesses reported that Gitahi was travelling toward Nairobi when he attempted to overtake a lorry but collided with another oncoming truck.
The impact caused his vehicle to burst into flames, trapping him inside.
On Friday, at Gitahi’s requiem mass at Sienna Catholic
Church in Kitisuru, Nairobi, Senator Montet shared her grief, revealing that
she was hospitalized for two days after learning of her husband's death.
"When this happened, I was so crushed that I was in the hospital for two days—it was because of who Jay was to me," she said.
Reflecting on their life together, she added, "Jay was a responsible man. We lived a simple life, but he was always there for me."
A funeral service is underway in Machakos before the late pilot is laid to rest.
Several political leaders from the ODM party and the Senate, including the burial, including the Senate speaker Amason Kingi.
