Fury as bodaboda operator is killed and machete, iron bar left beside his body

By Renson Buluma

Busia, Kenya: A bodaboda operator has been brutally murdered and his body dumped in a ditch along the Busia-Malaba road by unknown people who also stole his motorbike.

The assailants also took the deceased’s phone and money.

Brenda Nambiro whose home is close to the scene where the deceased’s body was dumped, says the man, identified as Jamleck Okello who was in his mid 20s, may have been killed by his assailants at around 10pm Sunday, when it was raining heavily.

“We suspect that the man was killed at the time when it was raining heavily because we did not hear any commotion,” said Ms Nambiro.

The body was found lying in a pool of blood with a deep cut its his forehead.

Pick client

By his side was a machete and an iron bar which may have been used to kill him. The deceased is said to have received a call to go and pick a client when he met his death.

“He returned home early to prepare food for his children (his wife had gone to visit a relative) when he was called,” said one of his fellow boda boda operators.

The incident sparked a protest among the local leaders and boda boda operators who staged a peaceful demonstration over the rising insecurity in the area targeting the transport sector. They blocked part of Busia-Kisumu road near the county commissioners office where they demanded that the problem be addressed.

Angorom Ward Representative Solomon Onyango Ochieng and nominated Ward Representative Nur Mohammed said there was urgent need for security agents to address runaway insecurity and protect boda boda operators from criminal elements.