Kirinyaga: Boda boda operator dies after being run over by miraa pick-up

A boda boda operator was run over and killed by a speeding miraa-ferrying pick-up at Ngurubani area along the Mwea-Embu Highway, Kirinyaga County at around 1 am on Sunday morning.

The boda boda operator was heading to Kiarukungu village from Ngurubani town when he was run down by the  vehicle en route to Nairobi.

The pick-up's driver is said to have attempted to overtake another vehicle when he hit the motorcyclist who was headed in the opposite direction.

The vehicle's occupants fled the scene and did not stop even for a moment, according to boda boda operator Kang'au Muihurwo, who witnessed the incident.

Enraged by the killing of their colleague, Muihurwo and other boda boda operators barricaded the road in protest leaving motorists plying the route stranded for the better part of two hours before officers from Wanguru police station intervened and de-escalated the situation.

Mwea-East Sub-County Police Commander Daniel Kitavi urged boda boda operators  to avoid taking the law into their own hands while insisting that police will not tolerate reckless driving in the area. 

"We are going  deal with  reckless drivers in Mwea ruthlessly," Kitavi said.