Kirinyaga police crackdown on hay traders over road accidents

Police in Kirinyaga County have launched a crackdown on hay traders along the Mwea-Embu road following a rise in road accident cases along that road.

According to Mwea-East OCPD Titus Yoma, several people have lost their lives and on Tuesday, four people were rushed to a nearby private hospital after a road accident involving a lorry transporting hay and a Nissan matatu.

The Mwea police boss now says that immediate action will be taken against the hay traders who are accused of causing most road accidents in the area.

On his part, Wamumu ward MCA who is also deputy speaker of the county assembly of Kirinyaga, James Kinyua Mutugi, urged police officers to take action against the traders, adding that they were a great contributor to this road carnage.

Mutugi was speaking during a burial ceremony of two boda boda operators at Ciagini village.

Hay traders led by Alex Muriithi however say that their customers are along the road and unless police officers control the over speeding vehicles the problem would persist.

Elsewhere, one person died on the spot while four others were seriously injured after the car they were traveling in lost control hitting a Kenya Mpya bus, causing it to roll several times.

According to police, the occupants were drunk and armed and were going for a reconciliation mission after one of the two brothers allegedly separated with the wife.

Thika OCPD Erastus Muthamia said that police are investigating the incident since the victims had first hit a police car before speeding off, adding that the police suspected them of being armed robbers.

Cases of fatal road accidents have become more common in the recent past, with authorities blaming careless driving and boda boda riders for the rise.

A few days ago four people died and eleven others sustained injuries following a road accident in Isiolo along Marsabit-Moyale highway.

The accident involved two public service matatus (PSV) that were ferrying people to Moyale and Isiolo towns.

Traffic police officers at the scene however blamed the drivers of the two vehicles for over speeding and overloading.