On Wednesday 14, the lives of seven men were shuttered in seconds by two young police officers who pulled the trigger without much emotions.

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The seven were felled by bullets at Kibunja trading centre in Molo.

They were suspects of highway robbery and police had reportedly trailed them from Nairobi.

The gang, police said, were trailing a trailer which was reportedly ferrying sugar from Nairobi.

Highway carjackings and robbery along the Salgaa-Total stretch is a normal thing on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.

In Molo town, highway robberies are known as Kata Hama.

Many young men used to drop out of school and join Kata Hama business.

One chilly morning during an assembly, Mr Francis Thiong'o, the then headteacher at St Mary's Boys primary, warned boys against being lured into the business.

"Wavulana wengi mnadanganywa muache masomo mwende mkajiunge na Kata Hama. Nataka mjichunge sana na marafiki kama hao," Thiong'o said.

The headteacher had decided to publicly speak about what many would only do in private.

Molo town is littered with stories of young men who lost their lives along the highway as they attempted to kukata hema.

Molo town was the hole where stolen goods would end.

Usually, there were stories that even police benefitted from the proceeds of these crimes.

Residents always regalled on how trucks full of goods were cart away through the 14 Kilometre Kibunja-Molo road.

This road was a perfect getaway after a hijack because it passes in the middle of a forest.

And though in hush tones, residents can still show you buildings in Molo town that are proceeds of Nakuru-Eldoret highway crime.

There are also several rich guys in the small town whose wealth was as a result of several trucks carjacked, all goods cart away and driver dumped at Kibunja forest.

Several burials of young men were also done when kukata hema backfired.

There is usually a climbing lane along Sachagwan. The boys would hide in the bush, and as loaded trucks struggled to chew the lane, the gang would strike.

These kukata hema led to trucks on transit changing into containers which were now hard to break in.

But determined to make wealth through theft, the gang started hijacking the trucks, they tie the driver in the forest and drive away.

An empty truck would the following day be found dumped somewhere along the forest.

That is how a few guys in Molo managed to be millionaires!

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