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More Kenyans reveal chilling encounters with thieving matatu gangs


More Kenyans have come out to reveal their close shave with thieving matatu gangs that robbed a woman of a mobile phone after attempting to drug her.

Nairobi businesswoman Karimi Mwari narrated at the weekend how she had to fight off a matatu crew that was trying to rob her.

Matatu driver Patrick Kinyanjui Thuku, one of the suspects, was arraigned in court on Monday and was ordered detained for 10 days.

His accomplice is still at large.

The incident raised a hullabaloo on social media with many other Kenyans coming out to reveal similar encounters, underlining the dangers matatu users are exposed to.

In a post on Facebook on Saturday, Heather Wa Njuguna narrates how she was almost robbed in a MOA Compliant matatu on Saturday.

Ms Njuguna said she had boarded the public service vehicle at Kenyatta Hospital heading to town.

Upon the reaching the Central Business District at the general post office, other commuters alight, but she does not since that was not the stage she wanted to alight from.

However, just as the car was approaching Kimathi Street she noticed a crowd of men moving from the back towards her seat.

“They all occupy all the front seats. At this I looked at the guy who had come to sit next to me, he had a knife bit had covered it with a jacket on one hand. I then noticed a red eye, I freaked out, stood up and said, ‘nipishe.’ Guy had one leg on the aisle and the other firmly next to me. He refused but I raised my voice and protested. I moved to the step near the conductor who was facing outside. I told him, wacha nishuke,” says Ms Njuguna.

She went on: “He refused and you know he was hanging by the door facing outwards. He said kanju watatushika. I am now standing at the last step. Then I look back in the bus. There are like 7 men all seated near the door. They look rugged each with an envelope. Then I realize all these guys must have gotten in at GPO and had marked me.”

She says she was forced to jump from the matatu when it was waiting on the road to save herself.

Her post was shared more than a thousand times, with other people giving their own encounters on the roads of Nairobi while at the mercy of PSV operators.