The Eldoret-Malaba highway is notorious for accidents involving fuel tankers and head-on collisions.
Many people have over the years lost their lives while scores have sustained injuries from crashes on the busy road along the northern corridor.
Most victims have blamed careless truck drivers along the highway that links landlocked countries in East and Central Africa with the Mombasa port.
But besides frequent accidents, long-distance truck drivers also suffer at the hands of highway robbers. Cargo crime – where consumer goods are stolen in transit – has risen dramatically over the last decade.
Popular target
Trucks are by far the most popular target. Some drivers have ended up in jail after failing to account for loss of goods after a robbery, while others have been killed in the line of duty.
For instance, Mr Ronald Ndeda, a driver, encountered the criminals in April last year. They punctured the front tyres of his truck by placing a sharp object on the highway. As he was driving up the steep hill at Chimoyi area between Eldoret and Webuye, he stopped to fix a puncture.
“I thought it was an ordinary puncture and jerked to change the tyre. I didn’t know it was a trap. Three men jumped from the back of the truck and attacked me,” said Mr Ndeda.
He was rescued by police officers who were on patrol. But the robbers had already emptied his pockets and taken off on a motorcycle with Sh27,000.
Another victim, Mr Nahshon Kuria, was attacked by a three-man gang, two of them in police uniform, on February 12, 2019 when he slowed down at the Sango River Nzoia bridge.
The gang took control of his vehicle and drove into a thicket where they tied him up and offloaded cables he was transporting to Burundi.
“They robbed me of my mobile phones. I was rescued by locals in the morning. Police neither arrested the criminals nor recovered the stolen goods,” he said.
He ended up in police cells after he was said to have colluded with the attackers. His family negotiated with his employer before he was released. He was left with the burden of paying half of the total price of the cables, Sh2.5 million.
“We’ve sold almost everything in our family. Furthermore, I was left jobless with a family to raise,” he stated.
Ringleader arrested
In September 2019, police in Lugari arrested a suspected ringleader of the highway gang.
The suspect, Mr Isaac Okumu, is a former police officer who was fired from the service under unclear circumstances. He had recruited a team of five men who were terrorising long-distance truck drivers along the highway at night.
“The gang attacked a truck transporting dozens of motor vehicle tyres to South Sudan after disengaging its braking system near Chekalini and made away with several tyres that were on transit,” said Mr Maundu.
Police recovered the items that were hidden in the home of Okumu at Mukhuyu village in Chekalini. The armed gangsters are reported to be operating at Chimoi, Lwandeti and Nabuyole along the highway.
Mr Patrick Maundu, who served as Lugari Sub-County police commander up to February last year, said the highway robbers understand the mechanics of a motor vehicle engine.
“They usually target trucks ferrying goods that have a ready market. They jump on the moving truck when it slows down on a hill or at bumps,” he said.
They attack the driver and rob him of his money and the goods on the truck.
Use motorcycles
The head of Northern Corridor Transport Patrol Unit (NCTPU) in Western region, Mr Joshua Nyasimi, said the robbers operate on motorcycles.
He said the gang usually ambushes drivers at Kipkaren, Mwamba, Chimoyi and near the Nzoia River where they slow down.
“We have mobilised enough security officers who have increased their patrols along the highway due to the increasing spate of robberies that have seen motorists mugged in the night,” he said.
Mr Nyasimi cautioned motorists plying on the highway to be vigilant and report any incident of robbery to the police for swift action to be taken.
Bungoma East traffic boss Idris Halkaalno said officers have mounted 24-hour patrols along the highway to deal with the hooligans.
“We want the truck drivers to concentrate on the road without fear of people who might harm them because whenever they lose focus, they have always ended up in grisly road crashes,” he said. BY DAILY NATION