Victoria Mumbua Muloki, a 35-year-old taxi driver from Mombasa county, had only been in this job for four years before she went missing last week only to be found dead on Wednesday.
Ms Muloki disappeared after taking a client from Mombasa to Samburu, Kwale County last Friday only for her body to be found at the City Mortuary in Nairobi county.
According to her family, Ms Muloki first worked as a sales representative dealing with household items but left her job in 2020 to venture into the male-dominated taxi business.
Her colleagues in Mombasa disclosed that she used to have a smaller car, a Toyota Vitz, before she upgraded to the brand new Nissan Serena registration number KDQ 182F.
A search of the vehicle in the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) portal shows that Ms Muloki was not the registered owner of the Nissan Serena.
The vehicle, which police found in Nakuru after Ms Muloki was reported missing, is registered to ENK Enterprises Limited.
It was manufactured in 2017 and registered by NTSA on May 30, 2024, meaning that it may have been in service in the country for barely four months.
Detectives are still trying to piece together information that may reveal why the mother of three was allegedly killed.
A suspect, Edwin Ngetich Kipkemoi, was arrested on Sunday at Pipeline Junction along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway while driving a white Nissan Serena, registration number KDQ 182F.
Her colleagues in the industry eulogised her as a dedicated person who valued her work with unmatched dedication to the business.
According to Mr Joe Kairo, one of the taxi drivers in Mombasa, Ms Mumbua loved driving and most of the times she would even accept to ferry clients referred to her by colleagues.
“I knew her as a person who always kept time. She had no squabbles with anyone and was a person who always made sure everything was done in a perfect manner,” stated Mr Kairo.
Ms Muloki lived with her three children whom she has been raising in Makupa after her separation with her husband.
“She has never been in any disagreement with anyone. She separated with her husband and since then she has been the sole breadwinner for her three children. As far as I know, there is no communication between them,” her mother, Ms Anne Kanini said in an earlier interview.
The taxi drivers in Mombasa raised concern about cases of abductions and harassment meted on their counterparts.
They asked both the government agencies and taxi hailing app service providers to put in place more measures to ensure they are safe at work.
