Unsung hero of Kenya post-poll chaos

Just a few kilometres from Litein, he came face-to-face with armed warriors who had blocked the road using huge rocks. They flagged him down, and he obliged — he had no choice anyway.

He was ordered to open the door and the passengers told to alight with their identity cards raised.

“I realised that many of us were facing certain death,” recounted the driver in an interview with the Nation after the hair-raising experience.

As the gang leader barked orders at Mr Karuri, his troops placing old tyres under the bus ready to torch it, he made a split-second decision — he engaged gears and took off at high speed, sending his attackers scampering for safety.

He drove all the way to Kisii with the passengers screaming while others prayed fervently. 

The police in Kisii escorted the bus to a nearby chief’s camp where the passengers spent a few hours — under guard — before they were transferred to Bomet Police Station to spend the rest of the night.