Police yet to arrest touts who killed former student leader

National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) Director General Francis Meja

Police have not arrested any suspects in the killing of a man by a matatu crew on Christmas Eve in Nairobi.

Joseph Kiarie was reportedly beaten to death by touts and drivers during an altercation over an accident involving his car and a minibus.

Yesterday, Kasarani OCPD Robinson Mboloi said the minibus, which operates under the Marimba Sacco and plies the Tom Mboya-Zimmerman-Roysambu route, had been impounded but later released.

“We have made no arrests so far, but investigations are still ongoing. We retained the vehicle to get evidence which we already have and you know once you have that it is not a must that you continue retaining it,” said Mr Mboloi.

National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) Director General Francis Meja (pictured) said they had taken up the matter with the police after receiving a formal complaint.

Mr Meja added that they had called the sacco owners, with vehicle owner Kamau Ndung'u confirming that he was summoned by NTSA.

Disciplinary action

Meja said that they would take disciplinary action against the company in question once they had concluded investigations.

“We will depend on the information we get from our investigations and that of the police before we can talk of the precise action that we will take on the sacco since we do not want to speculate anything at the moment,” he said.

Meja said that by tomorrow (Friday) they would have concluded their investigations and would be ready to take the necessary action.

Yesterday, the post-mortem on Kiarie's body was carried out at the Kenyatta University Hospital mortuary.

On the fateful day, Kiaria was on his way to Munyu Catholic Church in Thika, where he was to help in preparations for a Christmas Mass.

But as he drove out of a car wash in Zimmerman to join Kamiti Road, his vehicle was grazed by a minibus and an altercation ensued between him and the bus driver.