Julius Maina Kago, the unsung hero who courageously drove opposition politicians to the historic Kamukunji Grounds rally despite a government ban on November 16, 1991, died on this year’s 36th anniversary of Saba Saba day.
Kago died on Tuesday without fulfilling his lifelong wish of meeting one of the men he ferried that day, veteran politician and Siaya Governor James Orengo.
For the past 35 years, Mr Kago had hoped to one day share a cup of tea with Mr Orengo, whom he regarded as one of the heroes of Kenya's struggle for multiparty democracy.
On that fateful day in November 1991, he risked his life by driving a Toyota Stout pickup carrying Mr Orengo, Martin Shikuku and other opposition leaders into Nairobi’s Kamukunji Grounds in defiance of the KANU regime.
Ironically, Mr Kago died on Saba Saba day July 7, 2026 at King David Hospital in Ngong, Kajiado County. He was 75.
Julius Maina Kago, the unsung hero who courageously drove opposition politicians to the historic Kamukunji Grounds rally on November 16 1991 and his wife Alice Njeri.
Photo credit: Pool
He had battled ill health for the past 16 years after suffering a stroke that forced him to retire from his transport business in Nairobi.
Though largely forgotten in Kenya's current political landscape, Mr Kago's courage and resilience left an indelible mark on the country's struggle for multiparty democracy in the early 1990s.
Armed only with his driving skills and determination and barely 40 years old with a young family, he drove the historic Toyota Stout pickup carrying political luminaries including Mr Shikuku, Mr Orengo and other opposition leaders to the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD) rally at Kamukunji Grounds.
Hezekiel Gachu, the owner of the pick-up truck that ferried Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (Ford) reformists to the Kamukunji rally on November 16, 1991 died in December 2022. So determined was the little-known Duruma Road hard ware owner that even after his arrest, he told journalists in December 1991 that he would “materially support Ford again if need arises”.
Gachu never received much attention but the international media used pictures of his vehicle carrying the opposition politicians as Kenya’s symbol of defiance.
The pickup did not belong to him. It was owned by his employer, who operated a transport business in Nairobi's Nyamakima area. Mr Kago would later buy his own pickup after leaving employment.
Defying a state ban imposed under Daniel arap Moi, opposition leaders led by Mr Orengo, Masinde Muliro and Mr Shikuku attempted to enter Kamukunji Grounds aboard the pickup, triggering a violent police crackdown that ended with their arrest.
At the time, political dissent and demands for multiparty democracy were being aggressively suppressed by the KANU government.
Although the rally was disrupted and its organisers arrested, the act of defiance intensified pressure on the Moi administration.
Together with earlier pro-democracy campaigns, including the 1990 Saba Saba protests, the November 1991 Kamukunji confrontation became one of the defining moments that eventually forced the government to restore multiparty democracy.
On Wednesday, his son, Martin Kago, 40, said his father was first admitted to King David Hospital in Ngong on June 22 before being discharged the following day. He was readmitted on June 25 after his condition deteriorated and died on July 7 after spending 12 days in hospital.
Martin, who was nicknamed "Shikuku" after the late former Butere MP Martin Shikuku, said the politician became a close family friend following the events of November 1991.
“I was barely four years old on that historic day. I remember neighbours at our rental house along Kirinyaga Road coming home with a newspaper carrying a front-page photograph of the pickup my father had driven to Kamukunji,” Martin recalled.
“I'm proud of my father. He played a significant role in Kenya's second liberation and the fight for multiparty democracy.”
“My dad always wanted to have a cup of tea with Orengo. To him, Orengo was a hero. Sadly, he died before that could happen,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Julius Maina Kago, the unsung hero who courageously drove opposition politicians to the historic Kamukunji Grounds rally on November 16 1991.
Photo credit: Pool
Martin said his father remained an active supporter of the opposition until it won power in the 2002 General Election.
“He was an ardent supporter of Kenneth Matiba. Although he maintained a low profile, he actively participated in opposition politics until his health began to fail,” he said.
Kago’s widow, Alice Njeri, 68, described her husband as an unsung hero whose commitment to justice never wavered. She recalled the events of November 1991 as tense, dangerous and unforgettable.
“After the incident, he went into hiding for two days before surrendering himself at Kamukunji Police Station. He was detained there for several days before being released without any charges, although he had been tortured.
“You could never stop him from doing what he believed was right—not just for himself, but for the ordinary Kenyan,” she said .
The family said Mr Kago will be buried at his ancestral home in Karatina, Nyeri County, on a date to be announced.
