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Presidents Kibaki, Museveni and Mugabe all narrowly escaped death yesterday when their ceremonial motorcade was split in two by a fast moving train.
The near-disaster happened at a busy level crossing near the centre of Kampala � a well known accident black spot � as the three presidents were travelling back to the Comesa business summit from an exports clothing factory in an outlying suburb of the Ugandan capital.
President Kibaki's limousine, in the lead, had already crossed the tracks and the car containing presidents Museveni and Mugabe was fast approaching when railway workers � realising a train was hurtling towards the crossing � suddenly slammed down the barrier with only seconds to spare.
"It took about five seconds and the train crossed", one witness said. "The car in which Museveni and Mugabe were was about to reach the crossing point. At that point a terrible accident was unavoidable."
And the witness added: "If the man did not put down the road barrier, the train would have definitely run over the two presidents."
The train belonging to the state-run Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) split the motorcade of the three presidents as they crossed the railway line on Port Bell Road, Kampala, at around 2pm, other witnesses said.
Mr Kibaki with Mr Museveni of Uganda and Mr Mugabe, Head of State of Zimbabwe were returning from Tri-star Apparel Factory at Bugolobi when the near-miss happened.
Mr Museveni's acting Press secretary, Mr Onapito Ekomolo, confirmed the incident, saying: "Yes, the train split the convoy but it was not alarming."
Officers from President Musaveni's Presidential Guard Brigade (PGB) quizzed the two railways workers but did not arrest them.
A PGB source said that the Brigade Commandant, Lt. Col. Leo Kyanda, later rang Kampala traffic chief Gabriel Tibayungwa, demanding to know why police had not alerted them about the oncoming train.
A Uganda State House source said: "I am yet to talk to Tibayungwa himself but what I was told is that he said that normally railway people do not inform the police when the train is crossing."
Other witnesses however blamed the rear guards of the Presidential convoy for allegedly ignoring the signals from the fast running locomotive.
The train was leaving the goods shed at the URC headquarters in East Kampala.
It is the second time Mr Kibaki has had a lucky escape.
In December 2002 while returning to Nairobi from electioneering in Ukambani, he was seriously injured in a pile-up which left two people dead.
His car was in collision with a minibus at the Machakos turn-off on the Mombasa Highway and he suffered a fractured upper right arm and a dislocated right ankle � injuries that came to dog the early months of his Presidency.
The three presidents in yesterday's incident are among eight Heads of State attending the Common Markets for Southern and Eastern Africa (Comesa) first business summit in Kampala.
The summit, also attended by eight First Ladies, ends to tomorrow.
Earlier President Museveni revealed he and President Mugabe had saved Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo from being hanged by the country's former military disctator, Gen. Sani Abacha.
He commended the late Gen Abacha for listening to their pleas.
Apparently Gen Abacha had accused Mr Obasanjo of trying to overthrow him.
"President Mugabe and myself were elected by the summit to go to Nigeria to plead for Obasanjo not to be hanged. We were shown a file on why he should be hanged," he said.
"When we were outside, one officer said that others from small tribes have already been hanged, but Obasanjo from a big tribe if he is not hanged, that would not be democracy."
Detailing the achievements of Comesa at its tenth anniversary, he continued: "I am glad that Gen. Obasanjo was not hanged, at least I salute Abacha because at least he listened to our appeals. It was a Comesa appeal because you sent us there".
Mr Museveni who took over the chair of Comesa from Sudanese President Gen. Omar Bashir proposed the construction of a navigation route from Central Africa to Alexandria in Egypt across the River Nile. | 
