On Thursday, January 22 at 3:32pm, Ms Eunice Musenya received a call from her husband, Musyoki Kilundo, informing her that he was safe and on his way to Mombasa. Little did she know that this would be the last communication she would have with her husband.
Ms Musenya said that, as usual, her husband, a truck driver operating along the Northern Corridor, called her whenever he was on his way to Mombasa to inquire which groceries he should carry.
“He asked me if he should carry tomatoes, potatoes and carrots, but that was the last communication I had with him. Thereafter, I had been trying to reach out to him in vain,” said Ms Musenya.
Eunice Muthini Musenya, the wife of 42-year-old Musyoki Kinundo, a truck driver who was murdered while transporting coffee from Uganda addresssing the press at her family home in Mombasa.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit|Nation Media Group
She added, “The following day, I received a strange call informing me that my husband was found dead at Bayete near Burnt Forest in Uasin Gishu County. The news was shocking as I wasn’t expecting such heartbreaking information. Though I haven’t seen the body of my husband, the incident needs further investigation.”
According to the police incident report recorded under OB2/23/1/2026 at Kesses Police Station, Kilundo, 42, was found killed and hanged at Bayete forest. Police said his truck was found abandoned along the highway.
The coffee beans consignment he was transporting from Uganda, worth more than $61,862 (Sh8 million) according to the invoice, is missing. Uganda relies on the Port of Mombasa as its main export gateway, where the cargo is shipped to international markets.
“The truck registration number KDB 364A was found abandoned along the highway, and upon investigation, a body was found hanged a few meters from the truck. The truck was taken to the station as investigations continue,” read the police report.
His fellow truck drivers, who are close to the family, said the incident was strange, leaving many questions unanswered.
Musyoki Kinundo, 42, a truck driver who was murdered while transporting coffee from Uganda.
Photo credit: Pool
“Many trucks carrying coffee do not operate at night, and how the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) tracking seal was disabled without sending an alert is a mystery," said one of the drivers.
The driver, who sought anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the authority informed the company about the disabled tracker on Friday at about 8am, more than ten hours later. The drivers also questioned the manner in which the truck was taken to the police station, raising concerns if the scene was processed fully.
But the case is not isolated. Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) has raised concerns over increasing cases of attacks on truck drivers along the Northern Corridor, saying the cases need to be thoroughly investigated to end the attacks. Increasing cases of attacks and robberies of high-value goods along the Mombasa-Malaba highway have not only left families without breadwinners but have also resulted in losses to companies in the logistics sector.
“We have been receiving increasing cases of deaths and cargo stolen along the highway, and we have made several recommendations to end such cases. Among the suggestions is to suspend transporting high-value goods, such as coffee beans, at night, learning from the fuel directive, which has worked,” said KTA.
According to KTA records, at least ten cases have been reported in the past five months where goods were stolen and drivers killed or maimed in the process.
On January 23, SGA Security Kenya, a company responsible for tagging and tracking the movement of all containers from Malaba to Mombasa, issued a security alert to all transporters following increased theft and hijacking activity along the Malaba-Mombasa corridor.
“All truck drivers are strictly instructed not to drive at night in high-risk zones and during restricted hours. The following routes are currently deemed unsafe for night transit: Turbo to Webuye and Eldoret to Mau Summit interchange. Kindly inform drivers to follow all instructions issued by the SGA Security Kenya Control Room,” read the security alert.
Ten days ago, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives confirmed an increase in cases involving suspected highway gangs accused of terrorising motorists. In a statement on January 18, the detectives in Rabai said they had apprehended three suspects believed to be terrorising motorists, especially truck drivers, along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.
