Bandits Along Langata Road Benefit From High Fuel Prices
October 14, 2008
Written by kenyanobserver, in Featured, KENYA
As fuel prices rise, more drivers are resorting to using public forms of transport to get around Nairobi. Some drivers split the modes of transport during the week while others only use their cars on weekends or when out with family members.
A Breaking News Kenya reader who asked not to be identified uses his car three times a week and takes a matatu twice a week from Langata to Nairobi’s central business district where he attends college. He told Breaking News Kenya that a few days ago as he was returning home at about 7PM, the matatu he boarded was hijacked along Langata road by thugs posing as passengers. He tells us that they were driven around the city for three hours as the hijackers emptied the passengers pockets, purses, bags and coat pockets and anything else of value they could get their hands on.
He lost everything including his cell phone, wallet and all the cash he had just withdrawn earlier in the day to pay rent.
A matatu is a privately-owned minivan such as this one and is the most popular means of public transportation in Kenya
At around 10PM, all the passengers in the hijacked matatu were dropped off along the Mwiki-Kasarani road near Thika and the thugs disappeared after roughening them up and warning them not to raise any alarm. A good samaritan offered him and some of the passengers a lift back to town where they were able to call friends and family to pick them up.
According to our reader, there have been four hijackings of matatus this month alone along Langata road and in one incident, a driver was killed when he resisted to turn over his vehicle to the hijackers. He says that more people are parking their cars and resorting to using matatus and thugs have noticed this trend and are taking advantage.
Crime against passengers using public transportation in Kenya usually hits a peak around the Christmas holiday season and because this is only October, some of the passengers involved in this incident said they are bracing for the worst.
Photo by kenguy
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