Taxi driver

It was an uneventful Sunday evening for James Kimani, the owner of Jim Cabs2, when he decided to go to work at his taxi and car hire business.

He logged into his account on a taxi app and immediately received a request for a ride from a client. The request made was from Kahawa Sukari roundabout to Garden City mall which was the destination.

He accepted the request and immediately went to pick the individuals who had requested the ride.

“I arrived at Kahawa Sukari at 7:45pm and found a gentleman standing with a lady, from the app I could see that I was picking Boniface. The guy sat on the back left with the lady on the right and I started the trip as required,” says James.

He adds: “unfortunately enough I did not know that It would be a day fuelled with controversy and ups and downs.”

The ride went on smoothly enough however it was upon arriving at the destination that the situation deteriorated.

“upon arrival at garden city I reached out to my phone to end the trip and unfortunately I realised that the application was hanging and several attempts to end the trip brought up the error message and reset itself back to the start fare of the trip which was sh150,” says James.

He adds: “I then decided to talk to the client and tell him about the issue, I displayed my phone screen to them and told them that unfortunately we have an error with the app pricing and I would wish to request for them to tell me the price estimate that they were given on their end by the app so that we can work with that.”

It is here that Mr Munyiri says that everything happened abruptly as Mr Boniface (the passenger) responded by exploding in anger. He then kicked the front passenger seat breaking its rails causing it to learn forward.

With the front seat broken Mr Munyiri lay exposed to Boniface who started hailing blows at him.

“with me sitting on the driver’s seat and him on the back left my body was exposed to him as he had knocked off the front passenger seat, breaking it. To my surprise he started to heavily punch me on my underarm below the lungs, and several blows to my head,” says James.

Munyiri’s attempt to try and talking to the guy were futile as he became more aggressive, the lady accompanying the man was at this moment wailing in tears. As the commotion went on in the vehicle Munyiri decided to drive ahead to where Boda Boda riders were as for where he was there was no one he could ask assistance from.

“I braked down instantly where the boda boda guys were with the guy still holding my shirt I then took my phone and dialled the SOS button that is provided by the taxi app system and a KK security guard answered and I told him that I was being assaulted and my life could be in danger,”

Immediately the passenger heard the conversation he was having with the security guard he and his female friend alighted from the car.

With the assailant out of his car He then decided to drive off along Thika Road. When he reached to Roysambu is when he could be able to collect his thoughts.

“I got to Roysambu and I was in a lot of pain and I decided to go to the nearest medical facility where I received treatment. I then proceeded to Kasarani Police station where I reported the incident,”

All he wants he says to create awareness on some of the challenges online taxi drivers face. He says, “the online taxis have lost a number of drivers to murder or assaults, so this is not something that is not just personal to me it is an eye opener to the kind of risks that we as a community must look into.”

He continues: “I also sympathise with passengers who have met rogue taxi drivers and we must also ask ourselves as passengers are we courteous enough and what solutions and measures can we put into place so we make the environment conducive for everyone.”

Nairobi News contacted Kasarani OCPD Robinson Mboloi who confirmed that they arrested Mr Boniface, however the matter was resolved amicably and he was released.