• 16 riders were arraigned on Wednesday and charged with the sexual assault of a female motorist in the city.
• President Uhuru Kenyatta also directed the registration of all motorcycles.
Image: CHARA GEORGE/TWITTER
Just a day after police intensified crackdown on bodaboda riders following the sexual assault of a female motorist in the city, the operators appear to have been hit by remorse.
A photo shared on Twitter by Chara George (@GeorgecharaG) showed a section of the operators with messages stuck on their backs with the words "we are sorry".
The photo was accompanied by a captioned message from George appealing to authorities to have mercy on the operators following the apology.
"Please the powerfully connected middle and upper class, forgive them. They are brothers, sons, fathers and husbands. They serve the less fortunate and honest constituency who can't afford a car but has families to feed on daily wages," George said.
On Wednesday, a Milimani Court detained 16 riders until Thursday pending determination of a petition by the prosecution to detain them for 20 days to conclude investigations.
The 16 ar expected to be charged with the sexual assault of a female motorist on Wangari Maathai Road on March 4.
Police want more time to review CCTV footage at the section of the road to help with the compilation of evidence against the accused persons.
Among those charged are James Mutinda, Samuel Wafula, Charles Omondi, Japheth Bosire, Hassan Farah, Wanjiku Lincon and Harrison Maina.
Milimani Principal Magistrate Robert Shikwe said he needed more time to make his ruling on the prayers sought by the prosecution to detain the suspects for 20 days.
On Tuesday, over 100 motorcycle operators were arraigned at the Milimani law court and charged with riding causing obstruction.
They all pleaded guilty to the offence before senior principal magistrate Esther Kimilu and pleaded for leniency in sentencing.
They were fined between Sh30,000 and Sh35,000 each or serve four months in jail.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations said on Tuesday that he had managed to forensically identify the mastermind in the assault incident and traced him to his hideout in Nairobi's Mukuru Kaiyaba slums.
"However, the suspect who is aware of the ongoing crackdown on errant boda boda riders escaped our dragnet by a whisker, via a sewer duct in the densely populated settlement," said DCI George Kinoti.
He gave the name of the suspect as Zacharia Nyaora Obadia, and advised him to surrender at DCI headquarters or the nearest police station within 24 hours.
Kinoti said the suspect was positively identified by his wife and other relatives in his rural home in a videotape that captured the sexual assault of the female motorist.