Alarm as criminals on tuk tuks terrorise Mombasa residents

"I was heading home at around 10pm when a man, who was inside a tuk tuk, pushed me and snatched my phone. Before I could stand up, it had sped off,” said Mr Jaffar Balala.

The man says he lost a phone worth Sh45,000 and he was admitted to hospital after sustaining minor injuries during the incident in Tononoka, Mombasa on Friday last week.

Mr Balala is the latest victim of criminals who are using tuk-tuks to terrorise residents in the county. The tuk tuk operators are said to be colluding with the criminals.

The new wave of crime has wreaked havoc in the tourism hub, causing concerns among the business community, residents and politicians.

The attack happened three days after an eight-year-old pupil was rescued from the cruel hands of a tuk tuk driver who allegedly wanted to defile her in a bush in Shanzu.

DEFILEMENT

The pupil had boarded the tuk tuk to school, however, the driver drove her off her route to Shanzu where he had intended to defile her, according to a police report. The girl was saved by Good Samaritans who took her to hospital. The driver was charged with attempted defilement.

In another incident, a woman’s handbag was snatched by two people posing as passengers in a tuk tuk at Mama Ngina Drive.

According to Tuk Tuk Owners and Drivers Association (Toda) chairman Obedi Muruli, the incident was among five cases they have received in the last two months. In other incidents, tuk tuk drivers spray passengers with a substance that makes them unconscious before robbing them.

An administrator who spoke in confidence said a tuk tuk ferrying criminals has been operating in Ganjoni, Sparki, Makande, Tudor among other areas within Mvita. Community policing officers in Kisauni said another tuk tuk operates in Bombolulu and Kisauni.

RESIDENTS ATTACKED

Following the rise in crime committed using tuk tuks, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has threatened to bar the three-wheeled vehicles from operating in some areas in the county. “Why are Mvita and Kisauni residents being attacked by gangs riding on tuk tuks and boda bodas? We must put this to an end. Even if they demonstrate they will eventually go to sleep,” he said.

Mr Muruli said in a bid to deal with the trend, all the 6,000 tuk tuks in the county will be registered afresh digitally for easier monitoring. “We started the exercise April 1 and currently at least 2,000 tuk tuks have been newly registered,” he said.

Once the registration is done, Mr Muruli said the tuk tuks will be given a special number, to help in identification if they are involved in crime.

Mombasa County Commissioner Evans Achoki said the county’s security committee is working with Toda to deal with the matter. “We have had some cases but I cannot give you the figure as per now. We urge the victims to make sure they report the incidents so that we can deal with them accordingly. We are tracing those reported cases,” said Mr Achoki who is the county security committee chairman.

IMPORT DUTY

When the government abolished import duty for tuk tuks to bring down the high transport costs, a sharp rise in imports followed.

This came as Muslim leaders in the county called on security agents to come up with tough measures to deal with criminal gangs that have been terrorising residents ahead of Ramadhan.

Muslims across the country are expected to start observing the holy month of Ramadhan from tomorrow.

A majority of Muslims also use tuk tuks to go to mosques at night during Ramadhan. 

Mombasa County Police Commander Johnston Ipara assured Muslims of their security, saying police will be deployed to man mosques and other places of worship during Ramadhan.

 Additional reporting by Winnie Atieno