A lorry overturns on the Nyeri-Mweiga road, scattering cargo and reviving long-standing safety concerns at a stretch that has claimed dozens of lives.
By Mellisa Mwende
A lorry carrying crates of soda and bread overturned on Friday near Dedan Kimathi University of Technology on the Nyeri-Mweiga road, scattering its cargo across the highway and drawing large crowds of students and residents to the scene.
The crash occurred at around midday at a section of the road that motorists have long identified as a black spot. Eyewitnesses said the truck lost control before overturning, leaving broken bottles and bread packets strewn across the tarmac. By press time, the cause of the accident had not been established and authorities had yet to confirm whether the driver or any other road users sustained injuries.
Residents who spoke to The Mt Kenya Times said the stretch becomes dangerously slippery during rains and suffers from poor visibility at the university junction. Despite serving heavy traffic — including students, public service vehicles and commercial trucks moving goods between Nyeri, Mweiga and Nanyuki — the road lacks adequate speed bumps, road markings and pedestrian crossings near the institution.
Friday’s incident is the latest in a series of crashes on the same corridor. On 28 March 2026, a lorry ferrying firewood collided with a Nyekicha Sacco 14-seater matatu on the same stretch, killing 16 people in one of the deadliest accidents in the region this year. In September 2026, a separate collision involving a lorry and a matatu on the same road left one person dead and 15 others injured.
Transport experts say the recurring crashes point to systemic infrastructure failures beyond individual driver error, and have called on authorities to urgently upgrade the road.
The incidents come against a worsening national road safety picture. National Transport and Safety Authority data shows Kenya recorded 3,995 road deaths between 1 January and 4 October this year — a 9.2 per cent increase on the same period in 2025. Independent road safety monitors estimate the true toll could be as high as 12,876 deaths in 2026, equivalent to approximately 43 fatalities every day.
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