When Festus Rotich, a 27-year-old father of one, bade his young family goodbye on Saturday, he did not know that it would be the last time they would be seeing him alive.
Rotich, the driver of the lorry that was involved in an accident with a 14-seater matatu and a saloon car on Kaplong-Litein road, is among the 15 people who succumbed to injuries.
It has left his father, Charles Kiprotich Kitur, traumatised and with injuries as he was a passenger in the lorry his son was driving— a case of a father watching his young son die beside him.
Wreckage of a matatu belonging to Members Sacco that was involved in an accident on the Bomet-Kericho highway on April 5, 2025.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
"We were transporting sand to a client in Litein when the accident occurred. A boda boda suddenly appeared on the road as the driver (Rotich) hooted," Mr Kitur, a resident of Kapkarin village in Bureti, said from his hospital bed at St Clare's Hospital.
"Things happened so fast, and all I can remember is two other vehicles, a saloon and a matatu, appearing in front of us before a loud bang. Suddenly, we found ourselves on the tarmac with people wailing all over the place while properties were strewn at the scene. We saw blood, and I could see my son was badly injured.”
A lorry that was involved in an accident at Cheptangulge area on the Bomet-Kericho highway on April 5, 2025, claiming 15 lives and injuring 14 passengers.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
He was later to learn that Rotich had succumbed to the injuries and his body had been taken to the mortuary at the same hospital.
"It is so sad that I have lost my son in the accident and that his young child is now partially orphaned," Mr Kitur, who sustained back and leg injuries in the accident, said.
"I am appealing to the government to assist us to pay our medical bills and funeral costs as we have no regular source of income,” he added.
Mr Thomas Yegon, another survivor, said he was at the back of the lorry with two other loaders when the accident occurred.
Thomas Yegon, a loader in a lorry that was involved in an accident on Kaplong-Bomet highway, speaking at St Clare's Kaplong Hospital on April 6, 2025.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
"I do not know what happened. We were at the back of the lorry, travelling to Litein, to offload the sand at a construction site, when the accident occurred. I later found myself in hospital," he said.
13 killed, 14 injured in a multiple car crash on Kaplong-Kericho highway
The crash that captured national attention heightened concerns over rising road slaughter since the start of the year.
At least 1,139 people have been killed in road accidents in the past three months, prompting authorities to reintroduce alcohol-blow tests nationwide.
The gadgets will make a comeback 14 years after it was withdrawn following court orders outlawing them following a successful petition filed by Reminisce Sports Bar Limited and Anor versus Cabinet Secretary of Roads and Transport.
On Sunday, Cabinet Secretary for Transport Davis Chirchir said the government had ordered 1,000 of the alcoblow gadgets to be deployed on the roads by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
A saloon car that collided head-on with a lorry and a matatu at Cheptangulge in the Bomet-Kericho highway on April 5, 2025, where 15 people died and 14 were injured.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
It comes with the revelation that the matatu that was involved in an accident on the Kaplong-Litein highway that claimed 15 lives was overloaded.
The matatu operated by Members Transport Sacco was headed to Bomet from Kericho when it had a head-on collision with an oncoming lorry and a saloon vehicle at Cheptangulge village, Sotik constituency, Bomet County.
“The matatu had 20 passengers on board at the time of the accident, which is a very high number by the set standards,” Bomet County Police Commander Edward Imbwaga said at a press briefing held by Mr Chirchir after touring St Clare’s Kaplong Hospital and the scene of the Saturday accident.
Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport Davis Chirchir addresses the press in Kaplong, Bomet County on April 6, breathalysers2025. He said the government would introduce breathalysers to curb road accidents.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
So far, a total of seven bodies, four lying at St Clare’s Kaplong Hospital mortuary in Bomet County and another three at Kapkatet Sub-County Hospital in Kericho, had not been identified, according to the police.
“The lorry and the saloon car had four passengers each at the time of the accident,” Mr Imbwagwa said.
Mr Imbwaga said it was unfortunate that passengers were boarding matatus even when they were overloaded, without considering the risk they were exposing themselves to.
Mr Chirchir said that the government would crack down on those flouting traffic rules to curb rising deaths on the roads.
The wreckage of a 14-seater matatu involved in an accident on Kaplong-Kericho highway is being loaded onto a recovery truck on April 5, 2025.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
“The government will next week gazette regulations on the management and operations of commercial vehicles whose tare weight is above 3,048 kilogrammes operating on Kenyan roads. It will be done through the National Transport and Safety Policy, which will also govern the management of school buses,” Mr Chirchir announced.
“It is unacceptable that innocent Kenyans have been subjected to such pain and anguish as a result of irresponsible and careless drivers who imagine they can drink and drive when they are carrying passengers.”
The CS said he was aware of the Kimalany Bridge accident that involved a school bus and a Kericho-bound matatu, and one that killed three children and a teacher in Sondu of Kericho County.
“We have developed necessary regulations and rules pursuant to the Traffic Act Cap 403 of the Laws of Kenya. The four key regulations and rules are – Drinking and Driving Rules 2025, Traffic Motor Vehicles Inspection Rules 2025, Operations of Commercial Service Rules 2025, and Traffic School Transport Rules 2025,” Mr Chirchir said.
The alcoblow rule was outlawed in 2021 following a court ruling, as the law did not provide for a drunken driving offence. But the law has been amended to provide for two years' imprisonment or a fine of Sh 100,000.
No more 'Blowing of Alcohol' as court rules alcoblow illegal
A convicted offender under the new traffic rules will also be liable to a ban for 12 months from driving vehicles.
