Five people from the same village in Tetu, Nyeri county have lost their lives after they were involved in two separate bodaboda accidents in a span of 24 hours which happened one kilometre apart.
The first accident happened on Saturday evening in Gondo area where two bodabodas collided head-on and one rider died on the spot while the passenger died on his way to hospital.
The second accident occurred on Sunday evening involving two bodabodas as one was overtaking the other and left the three occupants dead.
I saw the bodaboda that was carrying my father in law collide with another one that was coming from Muthinga area and it did not have headlights. My father died on our way to hospital while the bodaboda rider died on the spot,” Charles Irungu said.
While explaining that his relative was one of the deceased persons, Stephen Muturi said 29-year-old Samuel Maina ( one of the deceased), embarked on the bodaboda business last year after he lost his job due to the covid-19 pandemic.
“Maina was a Bachelor’s of Science graduate and was working with a milk processing company but he lost his job after the Covid-19 pandemic struck. It is then that he embarked on bodaboda business to earn a living until yesterday when he met his death,” Muturi said.
The residents are saying many accidents have been witnessed on the road since the onset of its construction and that their joy to have a tarmacked road has now turned into anguish. They are appealing to have bumps erected on the road in order to prevent overspeeding and dangerous riding.
“Maina was one of us and he was operating from here, he left us yesterday to ferry a customer and a few minutes later he was no more,” Joyce Wamuyu, another resident said.
While confirming the deaths, Tetu Deputy County Commissioner Oddilia Ndeti has said that together with the traffic department, they will roll out a training programme for the bodaboda operators in a bid to reduce the accidents in the area.
“We embarking on a training programme to sensitize the bodaboda riders, especially from that area, as they are more prone to accidents yet most of these accidents occur due to human error,” she said.
She also noted that most accidents are being witnessed in areas where roads are being tarmacked due to the smoothness of the roads.
