The Kipkaren river - Kaburengu junction, a 15kilometre stretch along the Eldoret - Webuye highway is one of Kenya’s most dangerous roads, claiming lives in repeated horror traffic accidents.
Majority of these accidents involve petrol oil tankers, trucks, matatus and boda boda riders. Though sporadic, they always hit national headlines because they lead to the loss of multiple lives, massive destruction of property and leave scores with life-threatening injuries.
Most times, they involve head-on collisions, matutus slamming into stationary trucks or, as happened last week, fuel tankers exploding into a huge fireball after smashing into others.
Authorities now say missing signposts and road marks, careless driving and narrow bridges along that highway are the major causes for the numbing carnage.
These findings were released by a task force formed by Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya to establish the causes behind these frequent accidents along this highway and come up with long-lasting solutions.
The task force was formed after a petrol tanker collided with another and hit a 14-seater matatu at Mukhonje area on August 26, last year. Seven people on board died and dozens escaped with serious injuries.
Going by media reports and police data, Kaburengu junction, Chimoi, Mukhonje, Kipkaren and Lwandeti could be the deadliest blackspots on Kenyan roads.
For the last 18 months, at least 30 people have been killed on the busy highway and over 50 left nursing life-threatening injuries.
Last weekend, three people were killed within 24 hours and five others grievously injured following multiple accidents along this highway.
At Mukhonje area, a boda boda rider was killed after two petrol tankers from Eldoret heading towards Webuye collided and burst into flames.
“One of the two tankers landed on the boda boda rider who was burnt to death,” said Joshua Nyasimi who is in charge of the Northern Corridor Transits Patrol Unit.
Nyasimi said two more accidents were reported at Matisi area the next morning and another at Kaburengu junction in the afternoon.
“Two trucks collided head-on at Matisi narrow bridge after both drivers refused to give way. One driver and a passenger died on the spot while the other survived death by a whisker,” said Nyasimi.
On January 2 this year, eight people died in a horrific road accident involving a matatu and a stalled truck at Musembe on Eldoret–Webuye highway at dawn. Five passengers escaped death narrowly.
On October 31, last year, a truck driver died after he lost control of his vehicle and rammed another car near the River Nzoia Bridge. Two people sustained injuries.
On August 26, 2021, six people were killed, seven injured and 31 shops destroyed at Mukhonje area after a petrol tanker burst into flames following a collision with a matatu at Mukhonje area. Two days earlier at Kaburengu Bridge, a family of five from Vihiga County were all killed after a truck hit their car.
On November 10, 2020, one person died at Chimoi area after a truck hit a 14-seater matatu from behind while on August 24, 2020, eight people were crushed to death at Kaburengu after a truck rammed a 14-seater matatu that had stopped to pick up passengers. Over 13 people were left nursing serious injuries.
And on December 22, 2018, a fuel tanker hit a 14-seater matatu, killing 12 passengers at the same spot.
Police led by Western Regional Traffic Enforcement Officer, Joseph Matiku, aver that accidents along the Eldoret – Webuye are mainly caused by human error and mostly involve long-distance trucks.
“The road dips towards Mukhonje area when one is driving from Eldoret to Webuye. The mistake most truck drivers make is to shift to free gear downhill, which makes the vehicles difficult to control when rolling uphill. This is what causes most of these accidents,” said Matiku.
“The moment a loaded truck is on free gear,” he explained, “the brake pressure reduces and by the time you start ascending, before you engage the right gear, the vehicle loses momentum and rolls back.”
According to Matiku, the latest accident over the weekend occurred when one of the trucks was on free gear. It lost momentum uphill, slammed into a truck that was behind it and burst into flames.
“We will sit down with Kenya Highways Authority (KenHa) and rethink this road, either redesign it to dual carriageway or have a barrier in the middle as happened at Salgaa which is no longer a black spot,” said Matiku.
A truck driver who sought anonymity also said that driving on free wheel was one of the leading causes of brake failure leading to the many accidents along the stretch, saying some of his colleagues sometimes drive on free gear to save fuel.
"Truck drivers normally siphon and sell fuel from their tankers to make an extra coin. When on free gear, you save fuel to compensate the one you have stolen so that you reach your destination without seeking additional fuel from your employer," said the driver.
