A driver of a matatu belonging to Latema Sacco on Friday morning escaped death narrowly after he was ambushed and attacked while on duty by unknown assailants.
In what witnesses at Gachie bus terminus, Kiambu County say was brewed by continuous differences between Latema Sacco and its competitor identified as Ganaki Sacco, the assailants attacked the bus by pelting it with stones.
PELTED WITH STONES
It took the effort of police officers from the Police Camp at Gachie terminus to quell the attack and rescue the driver.
Mary Kimani a local in Gachie told Nairobi News that she was seated on a balcony in her house when she heard wails, only to witness several youths pelting stones at the bus.
12:24 @ntsa_kenya @PoliceKE the barbaric act of ganaki Sacco operating within gachie on competitor operator latema travels should not go unpunished. pic.twitter.com/0pW6tAJlOU via @hilrmury
— Ma3Route (@Ma3Route) May 15, 2020
“They pelted the bus with stones as the driver tried to navigate through traffic and disappear from the scene,” she said.
According to another witness, Victor Alfani, the assailants were more than 15 and approached the bus from all directions.
Mr Alfani said that the reason why this was happening is because of competition as most passengers prefer using matatus that belong to Latema Sacco instead of Ganaki Sacco’s matatus.
MIRACULOUS ESCAPE
“It was miraculous that the driver managed to navigate through the bus under attack until the police arrived at the scene and charged at the assailants,” he said.
Nairobi News has established that there were no passengers in the bus when the incident happened and the tout had been attacked before running for his dear life.
In a tweet over the incident, Ma3route which is an account that highlights motorists on situations within Kenyan roads asked the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to intervene and deal with the situation.
“NTSA_Kenya, Police Kenya the barbaric act of Ganaki Sacco operating within Gachie on competitor operator Latema travels should not go unpunished,” a tweet read.
Police are yet to arrest anyone concerning the incident but locals say that security within the bus terminus has been improved.
