Protesters block Kisumu-Nairobi road after hit-and-run

The main highway from Kisumu to Nairobi was on Tuesday night blockaded by a crowd of angry protesters after a lorry is said to have knocked a man dead and driven away from the scene.

The demonstrations started at around 8pm after a lorry ran over the pedestrian as he crossed the road, witnesses said.

The Nation team at the scene saw stones and burning tyres on the main road at Nyamasaria as the crowd prevented vehicles entering or leaving Kisumu City from using the road.

The road, a modern thoroughfare which has been under construction with funds from the World Bank, is the main gateway from Kisumu to other towns such as Kericho and Nakuru.

DEMANDED ARREST

It was rendered impassable as the angry crowd engaged the police in running battles.

Police tried to clear the mob with teargas but the crowd would re-organise as word of the accident spread around the Nyamasaria neighbourhood.

Some were hurling objects at the police demanding that the truck driver be arrested.

Residents told the Nation that the highway, which is still under construction, has become a deathtrap lately.

The man knocked down on Tuesday evening is the third person to be killed at the same spot in two days.

On Monday night, a passenger bus knocked and killed a man who was trying to cross the road.

It followed another incident six hours earlier when a lorry from Kisumu heading towards Nairobi killed another pedestrian.

But the protest seems to have been caused by other issues as well.

Residents say the contractor has taken too long to complete the project, making it difficult for road users to have a regular pattern of how to use the road safely.

They accuse the contractor of delaying in erecting footbridges, forcing the residents to dash across the road.

The residents are also angry at the government for allegedly flattening their kiosks, without compensation, when expanding the road.