A Kenyan family on Sunday handed over a passport belonging to South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, which got lost in a 1993 plane crash.
The travel document had been kept by the family – along with those belonging to other passengers who were on board the plane that crashed in Kenya’s north-western Baringo County.
The family in Sawmill village had also collected President Kiir’s armlets from the scene of the accident.
South Sudan’s Presidential Affairs Minister Barnaba Benjamin led a delegation that received Mr Kiir’s travel documents and armlets at a ceremony attended by villagers on Sunday.
The event was largely symbolic – the family gave the passport to the South Sudanese embassy last year, but formally hand it over to the visiting delegation on Sunday.
At the time of the crash, Mr Kiir was the chief of general staff of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
Onboard the plane were five other people including the pilot, Mr Kiir’s bodyguard, two Norwegian medics and a British national, who is said to have died on the spot.
Villagers rescued survivors who were trapped in the debris and organised for their transportation to the hospital.
As part of its appreciation, the South Sudan’s government said it would build a modern hospital in the area, which will be named after President Kiir.
The crash site will also be transformed into a tourist attraction.