Conductor lynched for overcharging passengers

Police in Nairobi are investigating an incident where a matatu conductor was beaten to death by his colleagues operating in the Kasarani – Mwiki route.

Julius Kamau was allegedly assaulted by officers from the Mwiki Sacco Limited (MSL) for charging passengers Ksh.100 instead of the normal Ksh.80 fare.

On the fateful evening, the bus Kamau was operating left the MSL terminus along Tom Mboya street and on reaching Kasarani, two alleged MSl officers boarded the vehicle and asked passengers how much they had been charged.

It is then that a scuffle ensued with the said officers beating up Kamau, accusing him of tainting the Sacco’s name by overcharging customers.

According to deceased’s wife, Winfred Kimanzi, her husband returned home with a swollen face and bruised body.

“He came home and showed me the injuries. His face was swollen and he also had been injured in the mouth,”recounted Winfred.

Winfred says Kamau explained to her that the only passengers he charged Ksh.100 were those alighting at the furthest destination; Mwiki. Since it was raining at the time, Kamau is said to have charged the said passengers an extra Ksh.20 so that he would take them up to Mwiki instead of dropping them off at Stima area.

“He told me he did not see the point of charging the passengers Ksh.80 then drop them off at Stima area and leave them stranded looking for another vehicle to take them to Mwiki. So he decided to charge Ksh.100 then go straight to Mwiki,” narrated a teary Winfred.

Kamau was taken to the Kiambu Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

“As we were taking him to hospital, he was complaining of severe body pain, so much that he could barely walk,”  added Winfred.

When contacted over the matter, the MSL sacco denied that the said attackers were their officers.

However, a former conductor with the MSL sacco, Samuel Mungai, claimed that there has been a habit of certain officers in the Sacco beating up matatu operators.

Meanwhile, a post-mortem is set to be conducted on Kamau’s body on Monday to ascertain the cause of death.