A woman has died after a matatu conductor allegedly threw her and another passenger out of a moving vehicle at Juja following a disagreement over bus fare.
According to a police statement, the matatu’s registration number is KCZ 929C, which belongs to Memba Travellers Sacco.
The incident is alleged to have happened on February 6. The deceased woman who has been identified as Judy Wanjiku is said to have been working at Equity Bank, Ruiru branch.
Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai has said that the vehicle involved has already been detained at Wanguru Police Station in Mwea.
Responding to the concerns raised by netizens over the unfortunate incident on Monday, February 8, Mutyambai said that the police are currently looking for the driver who is at large.
He assured Kenyans that a stern action was going to be taken against the culprits involved.
“The vehicle involved has already been detained at Wanguru Police Station in Mwea. We are currently looking for the driver who is at large. I assure you action will be taken against the culprits involved,” Mutyambai said.
Juja OCS Dorothy Mugarisha said that the incident was first reported on Saturday, February 6, when the two victims walked into the station after they were violently shoved out of the vehicle over a disagreement over fare.
At the time, Mugarisha said the two victims, John Njoroge and 26-year-old Judy Wanjiku Nyaga, seemed to have incurred slight injuries on their hands and legs.
Eyewitnesses said that the matatu driver allegedly also wanted to run them over after his tout threw them out of the moving vehicle.
But onlookers reacted quickly and pulled them out of the matatu’s path. After the incident, the duo was treated at a Ruiru hospital and discharged.
However, on Sunday, a brother of the injured woman informed the Juja OCS that her sister later complained of headaches and was taken to Thika Level V Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Following the fatality report, Mugarisha said that they tracked the Memba Saccor vehicle that was involved in the incident to Mwea where it was impounded and taken to the local police station.
This is, however, not the first incident to happen.
Last year, a driver and conductor of a Githurai bus from which a man was pushed to his death.
The driver Naftally Kalama Fondo, 33, and his conductor, Alex Macau Gikonyo, 20, appeared before Chief Magistrate Hestone Nyaga where they were charged.
A detective attached to Kasarani police division, in a sworn affidavit, said Mr Kimondo died on the spot after being pushed out of the speeding bus that was headed to the Nairobi central business district from Githurai.
In 2018, a woman died after she was reportedly pushed out of a moving bus on Thika Road by rogue matatu touts in unclear circumstances.
The woman, only identified as Doreen, was allegedly pushed out of a Githurai bus – KCC 021 A – near Safari Park Hotel.
According to a Twitter user named Peter Pekat (@Pekat2013), the woman died while he was rushing her to Neema Hospital.
Pekat said all the conductors of the matatu from which Doreen was pushed had fled but that he, however, had recorded a statement on the incident at Kasarani Police Station. He also captured the licence plates of the bus.
