A matatu driver who caused an accident that left two people seriously injured on Kikuyu Southern bypass was on Friday jailed for 20 years.
Zacharia Mburu was sentenced to 20 years in jail by Kikuyu Chief Magistrate James Ogweno after he was convicted of dangerous driving, an offence he committed on June 24.
The prosecution brought two witnesses who testified that Mburu was driving dangerously when the accident happened.
Ms Karen Ondeche who was a passenger in the matatu Mburu was driving at the time of the accident said that he was driving at a very high speed before causing the accident. She said passengers in the matatu had complained that he was speeding and asked him to slow down but he refused.
Ondeche explained that the driver was chewing khat while driving. She said he was concentrating on the chewing of khat when he hit a pickup in front after which he tried to escape.
"He started driving fast in an effort to escape from the pickup. He drove very dangerously moving from one lane to the other and then a lorry hit the matatu causing serious injuries," said Ondeche.
Mr Antony Maingi, the pickup driver, told the court that the driver hit his pickup from behind. However he explained that when he was coming out to check the damages, Mburu started driving away.
"I went back to my car and started following him. He was driving very fast and some passengers inside the matatu were screaming. I opted to write down the number plate of the matatu and instead report to the police," said Maingi.
He explained that he wrote the number plate and slowed down now switching his attention to heading to Kikuyu Police Station. However, as he was slowing down a lorry hit the matatu after the driver carelessly moved to the lorry’s lane. He said that that's when police arrived at the scene of the accident.