Boda boda riders in Kitengela display a photo of their colleague Blaise Vabiyambere, who was killed on September 24, 2026 in lbisl town.
At about midday last Thursday, September 24, Blaise Vabiyambere was chatting with fellow boda boda riders at his usual stage in Kitengela town, Kajiado County, when a man and a woman approached him with an offer he could not refuse.
The two asked Vabiyambere to ferry them to Ilbisil, about 76 kilometres away, and the 27-year-old rider agreed.
Four hours later, Vabiyambere was dead by the roadside near Ilbisil, and his motorcycle was gone.
What appeared to be a routine passenger trip had turned into a deadly journey, exposing a growing motorcycle theft racket in Kitengela and its environs that riders say is increasingly using women to lure them into traps.
The killings have raised fresh concern among boda boda operators in Kajiado, where motorcycle theft has become a lucrative cross-border business, with stolen bikes allegedly being moved through the porous Kenya-Tanzania border.
Vabiyambere's death is now at the centre of a police investigation after two suspects were arrested in Kitengela on the same day.
Blaise Vabiyambere, a Kitengela-based boda boda rider who was murdered on September 24, 2026.
His colleagues say he had only recently started riding a boda boda in Kitengela. A Burundian registered under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) programme, he had no family in Kenya and was relying on the motorcycle business for a living.
Vabiyambere had, however, apparently become uneasy about one of his recent customers.
He reportedly told his stage coordinator, Mr John Kinuthia, about a Tanzanian man who had been paying him unusually well to run short errands around Athi River.
“He had said that the suspect could pay him exorbitantly to run errands for him in Athi River. He seemed afraid, but I advised him to be cautious,” Mr Kinuthia said.
Days later, the same man returned, but this time, he was accompanied by a woman. The client asked Vabiyambere to take them to Ilbisil. While on the journey, Vabiyambere remained in contact with a friend.
Boda boda riders in Kitengela town in Kajiado County.
At Kajiado town, about 41 kilometres into the journey, Vabiyambere called his friend and said that the two passengers, who appeared to be a couple, had invited him to join them for lunch, but he declined.
“He called me and told me the two had ordered some meat in a hotel and had invited him for a bite, but he had declined. He waited outside, though he could tell the male customer was not amused after he turned down their offer,” the friend said.
At Ilbisil, Vabiyambere made another call and said the passengers were again insisting that he should eat with them. He declined, again.
That was the last time that his friend spoke to him.
Soon afterwards, Vabiyambere’s body was found by the roadside and his bike was missing. Riders in Ilbisil alerted their colleagues in Kitengela after identifying him through the reflector jacket bearing his stage name and his UNHCR identification card. The body was taken to the Kajiado Referral Hospital mortuary.
But as police began investigating the killing, they stumbled upon a possible link to a wider motorcycle theft network.
That same Thursday evening, security officers led by Isinya Sub-County Police Commander Simon Lokitari were conducting a sting operation after a tracker on another stolen bike showed that it was in the town.
The operation led police to a mechanic who allegedly confessed to being part of a syndicate that disconnects trackers from stolen motorcycles. His arrest led investigators to a second suspect, a Tanzanian national who was arrested in a bar in Kitengela.
According to a police report, the suspect was found with a large amount of cash. He allegedly told investigators that he had been paid after handing over Vabiyambere’s motorcycle to accomplices for onward transportation to Tanzania. The two suspects are being held at Namanga Police Station, pending their appearance in court.
Kajiado County Police Commander Alex Shikondi said the arrest of the suspects was a major breakthrough in investigations into the cross-border motorcycle theft network.
“This is a major breakthrough against cross-border motorcycle theft. Security agencies are on high alert, especially in the border towns of Namanga and Tarakea,” Mr Shikondi said.
The aerial view of Kitengela town in Kajiado County on December 1, 2025.
Vabiyambere is not the only victim. Two days before his death, another unidentified boda boda rider was killed at Birika. The rider had reportedly accepted an offer from passengers who approached him at the Kitengela Ola stage. They allegedly turned on him before escaping with his motorcycle.
The body was taken to the Nairobi Funeral Home as police began efforts to establish the rider’s identity and trace his relatives.
For some riders, the danger has come even closer.
Mr James Mutuku, 35, says he narrowly escaped what he believes was another attempt to steal his motorcycle a fortnight ago.
Two women approached him in Kitengela and offered him Sh1,500 to take them to Mlolongo, an amount about three times what an ordinary ride would cost.
The women appeared drunk and “harmless”. But during the journey, one of them repeatedly updated someone on the phone about their movements.
Mr Mutuku became suspicious when they asked him to leave the main road and enter a deserted back street in Mlolongo, but he refused.
A confrontation ensued, and he noticed several men approaching.
“I sensed danger when they asked me to pass through a deserted back street in Mlolongo town. I declined, and commotion ensued before I noticed several men approaching. I fled. I was not paid,” he said.
Boda boda operators say the use of women to lure riders is becoming an increasingly common tactic.
Kitengela Town Boda Boda Association chairman Bernard Rogito said riders were being targeted because criminals know that many are struggling to make ends meet and may be tempted by unusually lucrative trips.
The association’s Kajiado chairperson Alex Gitari estimates that at least 1,500 motorcycles have been stolen in the county over the past three years.
He told riders to treat unusually generous offers with suspicion.
“A customer who offers you enticing money for either a short or long distance is a red alert. Nowadays, women are involved in motorcycle theft,” he said.
The pattern has also raised concern among riders in Kitengela, a rapidly growing town along the Namanga Highway whose proximity to Nairobi and Tanzania has made it an important transit point.
In May, officers intercepted eight stolen motorcycles at the Namanga-Loitoktok border points as they were allegedly being moved into Tanzania.
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