Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Awendo TOWN
RESIDENTS of Awendo Town in Migori County have raised complaints against the increased number of Motorcyclists boda Boda operating in the area which have become the source of insecurity and many accidental deaths. They are demanding for the quick intervention of the Prov9ncial Administration and the police authorities because the numbers of deaths caused by these machines have reached the most alarming proportion.
Many deaths in the recent months have occurred in the recent months. These deaths have become the source of worries as a day hardly passed without someone loosing his or her precious lives. Some of the deaths are are caused due to business competition. A number of riders have been killed by their own passengers and their motorbikes stolen by passenger – turned thug.
The residents have also appealed to the government to ensure that the boda boda riders operates only during working hours and strictly not after darkness. Two riders had their throats sit open and killed within a week after the smartly dressed passengers who hired them after darkness turned thugs and killed them in grisly and cold blooded murder.
The two incident took places within SAKWA central. In the first incident, a motorbike rider was hired by a passenger art Dede Market and who wanted to be taken to Ranjira area. But the rider never saw the next light of the day. He was found dead the next day by the roadside with hid motorbike missing.
Two prominent sugar farmers and business have died as the result of motorbike accidents. The first who died was Mzee Nahashon Nyandiga Aloo of Ng’ong’a village in Sakwa South who met his end while traveling from his home to Awendo town.
Mzee Washington Ogweno Otata, a retired medic from Rinya village in Waware sub-location Sakwa East, was killed by a motorbike rider a month ago. Gun toting criminal thugs have also been reported as being ferried into the villages at night by boda boda motor cyclists with intention of committing a felonies..Quite often the motorbike riders whose numbers have tripled in the recent months.
In most cases these riders have no driving licenses and not qualified to ride their machines on the highway. Police traffic manning the feeder and access roads from the rural locations into the town normally allows the riders to ferry extra passengers so that they could earn 100 ij bribes money. Most of the boda boda who are licensed to carry only one passenger do carry between town and three passengers, putting their lives to a great risk. The riders overload their bike, and even some times carrying up two or three passengers instead of one while traffic police only demand 100 for their bribe money.
There are several access and feeder roads which are linking Awendo town with the surrounding rural locations and villages. They included Awendo-Rapogi-Road, Awendo-Mariwa-road, Awendo Kanyimach-road and the Kisii-Migori highway which passes through.On Market days, the traffic policemen mount road barriers and road blocks on these roads as early as 7.30 A.M ,but all these for the purpose of collection but no traffic offenders are booked.
It has been confirmed that close to 500 motorcyclists are operating inside this small farming town and this has become the source of insecurity
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