- The incident happened when the M-Pesa super-agent, Jamal Noor, was leaving his shop in Busia town for his Lukonyi estate home.
- The robbery happened near Lukonyi primary school in Busia town.
Image: EMOJONG OSERE
Two people on Thursday night were wounded when an armed man waylaid an M-Pesa agent and robbed him of Sh400,000 in cash.
Also stolen near Lukonyi Primary School at 7pm in Busia town were six mobile phones.
According to a police report at the Busia police station, the robbery and shootings happened when M-Pesa superagent Jamal Noor was leaving his shop in Busia town for his Lukonyi estate home.
The report seen by the Star said Jamal was on his way home when a man with a gun covered with a jacket accosted him near Lukonyi Primary School. He was ordered to surrender the bag containing Sh400,000.
Jamal, 22, operated his M-Pesa business at Keren Guest house.
“He (Jamal) was walking to his residential house in Lukonyi Estate after closing the business in the company of one Ismail Birik, a Somali male adult aged 22 years and his business partner,” the report read.
“Upon reaching a bushy area near Lukonyi School they were accosted by a man who drew a firearm concealed under a jacket. He started shooting at them, ordering Jamal Noor to surrender the bag.
"As a result he sustained a wound on the right leg at the thigh and fell to the ground.”
According to the report, a woman identified as Hasna Abdirahman, 40, who was moving out of her nearby house to board a motorcycle to Busia town was caught up in the firing.
She was shot after she attempted to run back to her house after realising she was in an unsafe area.
“She sustained a gunshot wound on the right leg at the thigh,” the police report filed under OB Number 78/09/12/2021 said.
A boda boda rider who had stopped to pick Hasna was also injured after he fell on the ground when the gunman fired at his prospective client Hasna.
The rider was identified as Silas Barasa, 32, who sustained bruises on both cheeks and eyes in his fall.
The gunman robbed Jamal of the bag and escaped on a waiting motorcycle.
Police are yet to establish the registration number of the motorcycle used by the gunman to escape.
The identity of the two men was not established since the area was dark after a day-long power blackout, police said.
The victims were rushed to Busia County Referral Hospital where they are admitted in stable condition.
Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are pursuing the robbers.
(Edited by V. Graham)