Seven people were arrested following violent demonstrations in Makueni County that erupted over the death of a boda boda rider in a road accident.
According to police, the unrest broke out on Friday, July 3, between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. along the Wote–Machakos Road near Mukuyuni Market.
The protests were triggered by a fatal accident that occurred on Thursday, July 2, at about 4:15 p.m. along the Mukuyuni–Kyamuthei earth road.
A Toyota Hilux pickup allegedly knocked down Boniface Ngulu, a 25-year-old boda boda rider.
Ngulu later died while undergoing treatment at Mukuyuni Hospital. The driver was arrested and appeared in court on Friday for a miscellaneous application.
Police said angry residents barricaded the Wote–Machakos Road with bonfires before setting ablaze two tractors and another whose registration could not be identified, as well as a Mitsubishi Canter lorry. The vehicles are reported to belong to the driver involved in the fatal crash.
Officers who responded to the scene dispersed the protesters, but were met with stone-throwing that damaged the windscreen of a County Police vehicle, a Toyota D-Max.
Police arrested seven suspects during the operation. No injuries were reported among police officers or civilians.
Security was reinforced by officers from three neighbouring sub-counties under the command of the Makueni Deputy County Police Commander.
The road was cleared, normal traffic resumed, and officers remained on the ground conducting patrols and monitoring the situation.
Meanwhile, police in Kisumu County are investigating the murder of a 30-year-old man who was fatally stabbed outside his home in Nyakach Sub-County.
The incident was reported at Ogoro Police Station on Friday, July 3, at about 8:50 a.m., after the victim was attacked the previous night at around 11 p.m.
The victim, identified as Dashla Ochieng Otieno, had reportedly stepped outside his house to answer a call of nature while his father was attending a funeral vigil in the village.
His father told police he received a phone call from his wife informing him that suspected thugs had raided their home.
On rushing back, he found a crowd gathered at his mother’s compound, about 50 metres from his house, where his son was lying in a pool of blood.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the victim sustained a stab wound to the right side of the chest after being attacked with a sharp object.
He was rushed to Nyabondo Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Police officers visited both the scene and the mortuary, where the body is being preserved pending a post-mortem examination.
Investigations are ongoing to establish the identity of the attackers and the circumstances surrounding the fatal stabbing.
