Long-distance drivers have threatened to paralyse operations following the continued killings of their colleagues along the Voi-Masimba stretch of Mombasa highway.
Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) Chairman Newton Wang’oo complained that security along the highway was deteriorating, citing the area between Mariakani and Mtito Andei as particularly dangerous.
Drivers alleged that the Northern Corridor Police Unit was ineffective. Some of them accused the officers of demanding bribes and even participating in the robberies.
“Our drivers are being murdered along the corridor and no action is being taken,” said Kenya Long Distance Truck Drivers and Allied Workers Union chair David Masinde.
“Police know who these people are. We are issuing a seven-day ultimatum. By Thursday next week, if you won’t have arrested the culprits, we won’t drive anything in the name of a lorry. This is a strike notice,” said the union’s general secretary, Nicholas Wambua.
For instance, Gabriel Chengo’s wife had no idea that the last time she saw him alive would be when he bid farewell to his family at their Miritini home in Mombasa and set off in his truck to transport cargo to Uganda.
The 40-year-old truck driver had informed his wife that he did not wish to make the trip because his employer had failed to pay some of his dues. However, as his family’s sole breadwinner, he decided to finish the job and deal with the problem later. So he left around 9 p.m., only to be discovered a few hours later inside a truck parked in the Manyatta area.
Photos of her husband’s body were making the rounds on social media by the time the 31-year-old decided to call her in-laws to see if they had heard from him.
According to preliminary police investigations, the assailants used her husband’s clothes to tie him up and cover his face. He was strangled with his belt. Chengo died as a result of stab wounds and strangulation, according to a post-mortem examination.
The Chengo family is the most recent victim of highway robbery along the Northern Corridor, which some now refer to as a death trap for truck drivers.
Four other drivers were killed in the same way in the last two months, according to KTA data.
“Geoffrey Mwangemi’s truck was diverted on 17/7/2022 and found murdered in Kilibasi. Mohamed Mohamed of Awale Transporters was killed and the truck left in Maungu on 7/7/2022. Francis Opondo was killed on 28/8/2022 … Absirizack Abdullahi, working with Awale Transporters, was killed on 2/3/2022…” states a report by KTA.
Taita-Taveta County Police Commandant Patrick Okeri insisted that his officers had contained highway robberies along the important transport route. The Northern Corridor is an important transport route for Kenya, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda and covers 12,707km.
“Through collaboration, we have managed to boost security. Last year, when one truck driver was killed, we arrested three suspects whose cases are ongoing in court. We always conduct patrols, and mount roadblocks and checks for vehicles,” he said.
He acknowledged that insecurity was a problem and that the Maili Kubwa area had become a body dumping site.
“We caution drivers to stop picking up unauthorised passengers and encourage them to stop at safe places,” he added.
