A police officer books a matatu driver for flouting traffic rules on Tom Mboya Avenue, Nairobi, on September 15, 2022.
Police Constable Jackline Abuya sat on one of the front passenger seats of a 14-seater matatu she had just flagged down on Airport North Road in Embakasi, Nairobi, on September 4, 2025.
Mr John Onyancha, the driver of the Embassava Sacco matatu, did not have any passengers when the officer directed him to stop.
Trouble started when the constable ordered Mr Onyancha to drive towards Embakasi police station after briefly inspecting the vehicle.
There was a confrontation, the contents of which only the driver and the police officer know. Eventually, the cauldron boiled over.
According to court papers filed by police, an enraged Mr Onyancha suddenly veered off the road on reaching City Cabanas.
Apparently, his intention was to ram a pole and either kill or seriously injure the officer.
In her statement, Constable Abuya claimed that the driver accused her of being “troublesome” and even threatened to kill her.
Utmost respect
The vehicle narrowly missed the electricity pole, overturned and landed in a ditch. The two occupants of the matatu escaped with minor injuries.
Mr Onyancha was promptly arrested and detained at Embakasi police station, where he reportedly had a physical confrontation with another police officer.
Detectives in Embakasi recommended that the driver be arraigned for abduction, assault and attempted murder.
However, lawyers in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions only approved charges of dangerous driving and two counts of assault.
At the Makadara law courts, Mr Onyancha’s lawyer Babu Owino pleaded for leniency.
The lawyer, who is also the Embakasi East MP, told the magistrate that his client had a spotless record.
Police officers stop a PSV matatu at a roadblock along Uhuru Highway on August 8, 2024 during the anti-government protests.
The driver was ordered to pay a Sh3,000 fine for dangerous driving. Prosecutors and police are now pushing to have him charged with assault.
Mr Onyancha is just one of the many motorists whose confrontations with law enforcement officers have turned violent and near-deadly, with both parties trading accusations.
Some of the motorists in these confrontations say extortion and harassment by law enforcement officers drive them over the edge.
Police insist that law and order must be maintained, even in instances where the traffic officers are accused of wrongdoing.
National Police Service Spokesperson, Muchiri Nyaga, maintains that officers must be respected and any untoward conduct should be reported through legally-provided channels such as the Internal Affairs Unit or the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa).
“Motorists must first show utmost respect to police officers. The uniform represents authority and the law,” Mr Nyaga told the Weekly Review.
“Whatever grievances a motorist may harbour against law enforcement, there are clear avenues for being listened to. Action will be taken once complaints are raised and found to be genuine. It is the civilised way of doing things. Kenya is a country of laws. Anything contrary to that breeds anarchy.”
He added that if those who attack traffic police officers are charged with petty offences and allowed to get away with light punishment, it would affect the working environment of law enforcers.
Mr John Ngugi, an Embassava Sacco official, said the September 4 incident was isolated, adding that it triggered internal discussions.
Mr Ngugi said the matatu sacco personnel know the consequences of getting physical with law enforcement officers.
Another sacco official who did not want to be named said some rogue police officers intimidate matatu drivers and conductors who refuse to part with bribes.
The official added that matatu crews are often harassed by police officers on the CBD-Embakasi routes.
On February 20, 2025, university student Ian Njoroge walked out of Milimani law courts after a magistrate allowed prosecutors to drop robbery with violence and assault charges that had been preferred against the 19-year-old.
Eight months earlier, Mr Njoroge trended on social media platforms following a video clip that showed him assaulting police officer Jacob Ogendo.
Mr Ogendo had opened the door of the car Mr Njoroge was driving and got in. Soon after that, the young man struck. The police officer alighted from the car, but the driver still followed him outside.
In his statement, the university student said the traffic officer harassed and attempted to assault him in the vehicle, triggering the physical confrontation.
In February 2020, Mr Ogendo dropped the complaint against Mr Njoroge following intervention by former Nairobi governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko.
No charges were preferred against Ms Gloria Ntazola after she drove off with a Nairobi County enforcement officer locked in her vehicle.
The officer had jumped into the car in the City Centre as Ms Ntazola attempted to park.
Harassment
In her statement, the motorist cited harassment and accused the enforcement officer of fabricating an offence of obstruction.
She sped off, with the devolved government employee pleading to be let out. Ms Ntazola stopped and unlocked the vehicle in Kitengela.
Traffic police officers at a road block along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway in this picture taken on May 14, 2024.
Several days later, then-Acting County Secretary Patrick Analo admitted that the enforcement officer had done wrong by getting into Ms Ntazola’s car without her consent.
He, however, added that the motorist was also on the wrong when she sped away with the officer locked in the car.
No charges were brought against Ms Ntazola and City Hall also dropped plans to take disciplinary action against her.
On January 29, 2020, a traffic police officer in Lang’ata, Nairobi County, died upon being hit by a matatu whose driver defied orders to stop.
The incident occurred on the Southern Bypass. Witnesses said the driver resisted arrest and ran over the officer as he attempted to escape.
On December 26, 2020, Ipoa said it had launched investigations after a video of a traffic police officer and a motorist fighting surfaced online. The fight took place on the busy Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
A motorist wrestled a traffic police officer who attempted to gain access into his vehicle on Kenyatta Avenue, Nairobi, on March 30, 2022.
The traffic officer forcefully gained entry into the vehicle through the window.
During the interview, Mr Nyaga threw the ball in the police officers’ court, saying it is the responsibility of commanders to promote a positive relationship with motorists and other road users.
“The commanders must brief their juniors appropriately before embarking on duty daily. It is also the duty of the superiors in the service to create a good working relationship between the officers and motorists in the spirit of community policing and information sharing,” the police spokesperson said.
“The space occupied by the police and the public is sufficient for all, and thus collaboration and partnership are the way to go. We must do all we can to avoid confrontation.”
Mr Edward Walekhwa, a governance and security expert, attributes the cases on Kenyan roads to the tough economic times.
According to Mr Walekhwa, frustrated citizens turn their anger on the police, who are largely seen as representing the government.
“It is like a case of mob justice. Everyone wants to kick and punch the person accused of stealing,” Mr Walekhwa told the Sunday Nation.
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