When 24-year-old Rodgers Kisanganyi spoke to his father, Robert Kisanganyi, on Christmas Day last year, he told him about his plans to visit his grandmother in Kitale in two weeks.
The General Service Unit (GSU) officer was working through the festive season, which meant he would miss out on spending time with his family members, so he planned to travel home as soon as he was released from work.
But as fate would have it, the young officer, who had only served for a year, never got to see his grandmother.
Rescuers at the scene of the road crash at Twin Bridge area of Mau Summit along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway that claimed the lives of 15 people on January 09, 2023.
Photo credit: John Njoroge | Nation Media Group
“In our last conversation, we talked about many things. He called me to inquire how the family was doing. He also informed me of his plans to visit his grandmother since the rest of the family members are in Nairobi. I did not know that was the last time I would speak to my son,” the grieving father recounted.
When the bad news came, the elder Kisanganyi, who is based in Kericho, had just reported to work.
"I received a phone call around 9am from a person who identified himself as a police officer from Mau Summit Police Station. He requested me to travel to Nakuru,” the father recalls.
Mr Kisanganyi dropped what he was doing and drove straight to Nakuru. On arrival, he was shown the mangled wreckage of the matatu in a yard inside the police station.
“The matatu was badly damaged. The officer asked me if l was the father to Rogers Kisanganyi. He then broke the news that my son was among the passengers who died on the spot,” Kisanganyi said.
“I was shell-shocked,” he said.
The father is still struggling to come to terms with the death of his son, who was posted to Nairobi last year, after completing his training.
The 11-seater matatu that was involved in the crash that killed 15 people at Twin Bridge area of Mau Summit along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on January 09, 2023.
Photo credit: John Njoroge | Nation Media Group
"As a family, we are devastated by his death. He was young and promising and we had many plans with him. Sadly, we have lost him. It is a bad beginning of the year for us, but we leave everything to God,” the tearful father said.
The father spoke on Wednesday after identifying the body of his second son at the Molo Sub-County Hospital mortuary.
He said his son's body had multiple injuries, including a fractured skull, injuries to his left leg and ankle and a broken rib and an arm.
'Last spoke with my daughter at 1am'
Mr Fred Masete of Bungoma also lost his daughter, Nancy Wanyonyi, and a grandson in the crash.
"I last spoke with my daughter at 1am. Early on, she called me at 9pm and informed me that she was travelling home from Nairobi after visiting her husband for the Christmas holidays," Mr Masete said.
"When I called her at 1am inquiring where they had reached, she said that they were in Nakuru. I was shocked by the speed the vehicle was travelling. She also expressed her concern over the same,” the bereaved father recounted.
Nancy Naliaka, 21, and her 2-year-old daughter Lucky Nasimiyu were among the 15 people who died in the Mau Summit road crash along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on January 9, 2024.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
“I expected her to arrive in the morning. Around 5am, I was informed of the fatal accident in Nakuru. I tried calling my daughter but her phone had been switched off," the father said as he broke down.
“At 8am I called her husband to ask if he had spoken to her. He said he had also been trying to reach her in vain. The husband later confirmed from the matatu sacco that one of their vehicles that left Nairobi had been involved in an accident," Masete said.
Mr Masete later received a phone call from a police officer at Mau Summit Police Station, informing him that his daughter and grandson had been involved in the accident. He was told to go to Molo Sub-County Hospital.
Fredrick Masete, the father of Nancy Naliaka, who was among the 15 people who died in the Mau Summit road crash along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on January 9, 2024.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
"I travelled with the hope that I would find them alive but upon reaching Molo, I only found their lifeless bodies," he said.
Nancy was a 21-year-old student at the Musakhasa Institute of Technology and her son was three years old.
At the time of her death, she had just completed a diploma in general agriculture in November 2023.
Could not hold back tears
Mercy Cherop, a resident of Elgeyo Marakwet County, who lost her sister Rose Nasimiyu in the road crash, told the Nation that the sister was travelling from Nairobi to Eldoret and had booked a connecting vehicle to Iten.
Nasimiyu, a 22-year-old businesswoman, had gone to Nairobi to pick up her daughter from one of her relatives, where the child had spent the Christmas holidays.
The last time the sisters spoke was on Monday at 9pm when Nasimiyu told Cherop that she had already boarded the matatu. But early on Tuesday morning, Mercy couldn’t reach her sister on phone.
Rose Nasimiyu who perished with her son 2-year-old son, Roysan Trevor (inset), in the Mau Summit road crash along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on January 9, 2024.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
"I called her around 5am, but she was not picking up her phone. I requested a relative and a friend to call her, but still, the calls went unanswered,” Cherop said.
By 6am the phone was disconnected and Cherop called the matatu sacco's Bungoma office to find out if the vehicle had arrived at its destination. It was then that she was informed about the crash.
"We had big plans together. We were going to open an Agrovet," she said.
Mercy Cherop sister to Rose Nasimiyu who was among the 15 people who died in the Mau Summit road crash along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on January 9, 2024.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
On Thursday, the Kenya Red Cross set up a tracing desk at Molo Sub-County Hospital to counsel the bereaved.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that both the Northways shuttle and Classic Kings of Congo bus involved in the horrific accident were speeding.
A source told the Nation that when the bus reached the area where the accident occurred, a tyre burst and the driver lost control of the vehicle before it collided with the Eldoret-bound matatu.
Ibrahim Mohammed, a survivor who was in the bus, said the bus driver was speeding before the accident.
"The bus driver was speeding and at the time of the accident. The situation was aggravated by a tyre burst," he said.
At the time of the accident, the matatu driver was attempting to overtake several vehicles before colliding head-on with the oncoming bus. All the matatu passengers were killed.
By Thursday, most of the 15 bodies had been identified and relatives were making plans to take them to different parts of the country for burial.
The driver of the bus, who survived the accident, was arrested on Wednesday night and charged with 15 counts of murder at the Molo Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
