What was meant to be a joyful journey to celebrate a colleague’s family wedding ended in tragedy for a group of teachers from Matete Sub-County in Kakamega County after six people died in a midnight road accident near Burnt Forest.
Among the victims was Janet Andabwa, the acting headteacher of Chavere Comprehensive School, whose husband, Geoffrey Besele, is struggling to come to terms with her sudden death.
Mr Besele, who is also the headteacher of Tande Comprehensive School, recalled that his wife had left home in high spirits after completing the supervision and assessment of the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) examinations.
Inspector, Ngigi Ngugi, Deputy Base Commander Tarakwa Traffic Base in Uasin Gishu County, shows the wreckage of a matatu which was involved in an accident with a lorry on October 31, 2026.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation
“She was very much elated after finishing the supervision and assessment of KJSEA exams. She bade me goodbye and embarked on her journey,” he said, breaking down as he recounted the final moments at Tarakwa Police Station, where the wreckage of the vehicles involved in the crash had been towed.
His wife had left Matete at around 8.00pm and was picked up by fellow teachers in the Kaburengu area before they set for the journey to Nairobi for the wedding of a fellow teacher’s daughter.
But at about 4.00am, the excitement of the journey gave way to devastating news.
“I received a devastating call at 4.00am that she had been involved in a crash at Burnt Forest,” he said.
The tragedy has hit the education fraternity, particularly in Matete, hard, with several people connected to the local teaching community among the deceased.
Besides Ms Andabwa, the dead include a teacher from St Mikasa Girls School in Matete, another colleague from Chavere Comprehensive School, the daughter of a local teacher and a prominent businesswoman from Matete market.
Five other survivors are receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret.
Uasin Gishu County Police Commander Wilberforce Sichirani confirmed the accident, saying it involved a heavy lorry transporting cement and gravel materials towards Eldoret.
He said the truck veered off the climbing lane before colliding head-on with a North Rift Shuttle van and hitting three other vehicles.
“The truck veered off the climbing lane before engaging in a head-on collision with a North Rift Shuttle, subsequently hitting three other vehicles involved in the pile-up,” said Mr Sichirani.
Three occupants of a Probox and passengers in a public service vehicle were also caught up in the crash.
Scene of the accident at Twin Bridge along the Nakuru–Eldoret Highway, where five passengers aboard an 11-seater Toyota matatu were killed after the vehicle rammed into a stationary truck.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi| Nation Media Group
The latest tragedy has renewed concerns over road safety along the busy Eldoret-Nakuru highway, coming barely months after another multi-vehicle crash at the notorious Mlima Punda black spot claimed seven lives, including two students travelling home for the holidays.
That accident sparked public concern over the safety of transit trucks and lane discipline along the highway.
As grieving families gathered at MTRH and police stations to identify their loved ones, residents and local leaders renewed calls for stricter traffic enforcement against reckless heavy goods vehicle drivers using the highway.
Mr Ben Lelei, a resident of Koriomat, described the stretch as a dangerous section of the road, blaming several accidents on reckless transit drivers.
“This stretch continues to be a killer spot and most of the accidents are attributed to reckless transit drivers,” he said.
Mr Lelei also lamented that some people allegedly took advantage of the chaos to steal passengers’ belongings as residents struggled to rescue those trapped in the wreckage.
“It is unfortunate that while some of us were fighting to rescue survivors, others were busy stealing from dead and surviving passengers,” he said.
