Kenya’s deadly roads: At least 22 die in Nairobi–Mombasa Highway crash near Mtito Andei

The Nairobi–Mombasa Highway has claimed dozens of lives in weeks — and Kenyans are running out of patience for condolences without action

By Yvonne Wambui

Kenya is mourning again. At least 22 people died on Sunday when a passenger bus and a lorry collided in the Kanga area near Mtito Andei along the Nairobi–Mombasa Highway. Among the dead were passengers returning from a funeral in western Kenya — people who had gone to bury one of their own, only to meet the same fate on the road home.

Behind every statistic is a human being. A parent. A breadwinner. A child. Families who were waiting for a joyful return are now preparing for another burial. The grief is immeasurable, and for many households, the loss extends beyond sorrow into financial ruin.

What makes this tragedy particularly difficult to accept is that it follows closely on another accident along the same highway just weeks ago, which claimed 17 lives. The same road. The same pattern. The same unanswered questions. Are enough measures being taken to protect Kenyans on their roads?

The familiar cycle must end. Leaders issue condolences. Kenyans grieve. Promises are made. Then another accident happens, and the conversation begins again from scratch. This country deserves more than sympathy. It deserves action.

Drivers must internalise a simple truth: every passenger aboard their vehicle is a human being with a family, a future and people who love them. Speeding, reckless overtaking and driving while fatigued are not personal risks — they are decisions that can destroy entire families in seconds. Transport companies bear equal responsibility. Vehicles must be roadworthy, and drivers must be qualified, rested and held to account.

The government and road safety authorities must move beyond investigations that produce reports and nothing more. Dangerous stretches must be identified and fixed. Traffic law enforcement must be consistent and consequential. Fatal accidents must be thoroughly investigated, with findings made public and action taken against those responsible.

Kenya cannot keep burying its people and treating each crash as inevitable. Some accidents are genuinely unforeseeable. Dangerous driving is not. The Kanga tragedy must be the moment this country decides that enough lives have been lost.

No journey should end in a coffin.

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