A driver and his conductor are in police custody after allegedly staging a robbery incident involving a lorry on the busy Nairobi-Mombasa Highway. The arrests followed a report filed at Mlolongo Police Station by the lorry’s owner, who claimed the vehicle had been hijacked while transporting cargo from Mombasa to Nairobi.
According to the report, the lorry, which was ferrying 12 tonnes of galvanised wire, was reportedly intercepted on May 22 in the Maungu area. The driver and conductor claimed that a white Toyota Probox had blocked their path and that unknown individuals forcibly took control of the vehicle. They further alleged they were tied up and abandoned in a nearby thicket by the assailants.
The crew’s account included an additional detail that raised eyebrows among investigators that they had picked up two hitchhikers at Samburu, who later turned out to be the robbers. However, investigations by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Voi soon uncovered inconsistencies in the crew’s narrative.
A tracking device installed on the lorry indicated that the vehicle had stopped at Samburu for only about two seconds. This finding cast doubt on the possibility of the crew having picked up any passengers at the location, as claimed. Furthermore, mobile money transactions made by the crew revealed their location to be in the Kasarani area of Voi roughly 15 kilometres beyond the supposed site of the robbery even after the time they claimed the incident occurred.
Further scrutiny of mobile money activity showed that one of the crew members made two transactions on the same day of the alleged robbery, depositing Sh2,000 and Sh1,500. This financial activity, which took place after the supposed hijacking, suggested the suspects were neither under duress nor incapacitated as they had claimed.
The driver and conductor were eventually traced and arrested on June 4. Authorities escorted them to Voi, where they are expected to face charges. These include giving false information to a person employed in the public service, as outlined under Section 129 of the Penal Code, and stealing by a servant, in violation of Section 281 of the Penal Code.
Efforts to recover the lorry and the stolen cargo are ongoing. Meanwhile, the incident has prompted heightened scrutiny of theft and robbery cases along the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway, which has become a hotspot for criminal activity targeting transit vehicles.
Police have raised concerns over an apparent surge in incidents involving vehicles transporting valuable goods. There is growing suspicion that some of these robberies may be staged for financial gain, rather than being genuine criminal attacks. As a result, law enforcement has intensified its operations along the corridor, leveraging technology such as tracking devices and digital forensics to crack down on both actual and staged heists.
The Nairobi-Mombasa Highway remains a vital transport artery for the country’s economy, linking the coast to the capital and other inland regions. The increased focus on security along the route is expected to help curb losses for businesses and restore confidence among transporters and logistics firms.
