Long distance drivers have now identified the stretch between Mombasa and Mai Mahiu as the most dangerous as highway robbery and murder cases have risen.
The Kenya Long Distance Truck Drivers Association said five drivers had been murdered in the last four months by highway robbers.
This came as the decomposing body of a truck driver who went missing was found in his truck near Mai Mahiu town after going missing for five days.
It is suspected that the driver was murdered through strangulation before the criminals made away with 120 bales of wheat flour destined for Kitale from Mombasa.
According to association chairman David Masinde, the rising cases of highway robbery and murder had caused fear and anxiety among their members.
He noted that in most of the cases, the trucks were blocked by saloon cars ferrying suspects dressed in police gear.
“We are calling on our drivers to desist from giving lifts to passengers, mainly women on the roadside, as many of them work with the thugs,” he said.
In the latest incident, he said the driver went missing last week Saturday while on his way to Kitale from Mombasa.
His body was recovered on Tuesday along the Naivasha-Mai Mahiu road, with the truck parked by the roadside and cargo missing.
“The body had a rope around the neck meaning he was strangled, his body was found behind the driver’s seat after members of the public alerted the police about the truck,” Masinde said.
Naivasha OCPD Samuel Waweru said initial investigations traced the robbery took place from the point of origin.
“We suspect that the robbers killed the driver in Mombasa before offloading the cargo and abandoning the lorry near Mai Mahiu town,” he said.
Last month, a group of highway robbers escaped death narrowly after a trailer rammed into their personal car that had blocked the Naivasha-Mai Mahiu road.
One woman who was trapped in the wreck was arrested as police mounted a manhunt for her accomplices who escaped the scene with injuries.
-Edited by SKanyara
