Boda boda operators who lynch suspects and burn vehicles after accidents risk being charged with murder, Traffic Commandant Samuel Kimaru has warned.
He said some boda boda riders gang up and set ablaze people suspected of stealing their colleagues' motorcycles. They also burn vehicles when their colleagues are involved in accidents.
Kimaru on Tuesday said such actions are illegal and boda boda operators who will be caught participating in such actions will be arrested and charged with murder or any other offence that requires long custodial sentences.
The commandant said suspects should be handed over to police to take them to court where magistrates and judges determine the punishment they should face.
“Anybody burning a motor vehicle or killing a suspect after arresting him, will be dealt with according to the law. Nobody is allowed to take the law into his hand and punish a suspect. This is the work of the courts and nobody else, including me,” Kimaru said.
He spoke at Talent Academy in Embu town during traffic rules compliance sensitisation meeting. He was accompanied by Embu police commander Daniel Rukunga, traffic police officers from the area and the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) officials.
Kiamaru and Rukunga said the high speed at which muguka transporters drive their vehicles is dangerous.
They said fatal accidents are reported daily along Kiritiri-Embu-Nairobi road.