Robbers target taxis in Nyanza

By KENAN MIRUKA

Taxi operators in several towns across Nyanza are a worried lot. Rising cases of theft of vehicles and murder of drivers in cold blood is threatening to render them jobless.

Despite numerous police roadblocks along major highways in the region, several cars have been stolen by a suspected organised gang targeting taxis and car hire vehicles.

The vehicles are then smuggled into neighbouring countries.

In the latest incident, a taxi driver was reported missing in Kisii town with his car. After ten days of endless search in various towns across South Nyanza, his mutilated and decomposing body was found in a thicket on a roadside in Migori County.

Elijah Omosa, 32, left Kisii town on January 6, at 9am. He told a friend he was ferrying a client to Ogembo town in his white Toyota station wagon KBJ 760T.

Unanswered calls

Omosa later called his brother from Migori town at 8.37pm saying he was on his way back to Kisii, but his phone went off afterwards.

"I grew suspicious when he failed to turn up past midnight and I informed police. We mounted a search together with police throughout the night and into the following day. Search teams went to Sirare border, Muhuru Bay, Kehancha and Migori, but he was nowhere to be seen," narrates his brother Job Omosa, also a taxi driver.

The family got a call later informing them that a body had been found dumped two kilometres from the Migori-Kehancha turnoff. It turned out to be the missing driver.

"The body was stark naked with eyes and private parts removed. Locals told us many bodies had been recovered from the spot surrounded by a thicket. The vehicle is still missing," adds Omosa.

"If the Government knows the spot near Migori where bodies are dumped, why have they not taken action," poses the deceased’s brother.

Intelligence sharing

Kisii DCIO Michael Wambai says he is fully aware of the incident but it was being handled by his counterpart in Migori.

"Though the missing person and vehicle was reported in Kisii, the murder took place in Migori so it is being handled from that side. We don’t want to compromise their investigation, but we are sharing intelligence," says the DCIO.

He says the suspects mentioned by the victims had recorded statements but investigation was ongoing.

Zonic Taxi Association chairman Joel Moreka says this was the second time the missing car was targeted.

"Its previous driver was hired to ferry clients to Awendo town last October. He took off after growing suspicious of the clients leaving behind the keys. The car was abandoned as it had a secret cut out switch. Later the ‘clients’ called the driver to say they would take the car or his life prompting him to quit," say Moreka.

Police inaction

He says details of the caller were given to police in Kisii but little action has been taken.

"This is the third vehicle that has been stolen since 2009 in our association. Not a single case has been resolved by police," argues Moreka.

In another incident, Joseph Mogaka, a taxi driver in Keroka town, narrowly escaped death after being hired to ferry clients to pay dowry in Transmara.

"They were three men clad in dark suits. After negotiations, we fixed a fee and set off towards Transmara. A short distance before Kilgoris town, they suggested we leave the car parked by the roadside and walk towards their destination, a few metres up a hill," he narrates.

After walking for 200 metres, he grew suspicious after the men tactfully surrounded him while pretending to be making phone calls.

"I took off towards the vehicle at high speed catching them unawares. They caught my shirt and the car keys dropped, but I managed to escape," recalls Mogaka.

Freeing suspects

He boarded a matatu and reported the matter at Kilgoris Police Station. The car was later intercepted at a petrol station in the town and one person arrested. He was released under unclear circumstances.

For James Marocha, a worker at a local tea Sacco, he lost his car three months ago in Nyamira town. He says his driver was drugged by people who posed as passengers.

The driver only remembers taking the passengers to Sondu town, 50 kilometres away. He was found a day later at Keroka town along the Kisii-Nairobi road.

Marocha is yet to recover his vehicle but he believes it could have been smuggled into a neighbouring country.

Investigations by The Underworld show that a suspected cartel targeting station wagon cars popularly known as ‘Olwenda’ is behind the theft of the vehicles, which are later smuggled across the Kenya-Tanzania border.

The criminals hire the cars posing as clients or hold drivers of hired vehicles hostage, drug them or tie them up before driving off in the vehicles.

The cars are either dismantled and sold as spare parts or sold to unsuspecting buyers after their engine and Chasis numbers are altered.

Recovery

Kisii OCPD Tom Mutisya says the taxicab theft incidents are not widespread. However, he notes his office has managed to recover four stolen vehicles in the last one year.

"We recently recovered a matatu stolen from Kisii in Nairobi. It had been turned into a shuttle plying the Nairobi-Eldoret route. We recovered another car in Narok and two others from other towns in Kenya," says Mutisya.

He says the vehicles stolen from Kisii are believed to be smuggled into a neighbouring country, but maintains most recoveries have occurred locally.

"We have recovered and repatriated two vehicles stolen from Narok and Nairobi’s Embakasi area respectively. One lorry had been converted into a mini bus," he notes.

"Taxi drivers should be vigilant while carrying clients over long distances and suspicious areas," advises the OCPD.