Nairobi police arrest 200 taxi drivers in hunt for sex attackers

KENYA’S president has ordered a crackdown on motorcycle taxis after a group sexually assaulted a female motorist.

The young woman was attacked by drivers after a traffic accident last week in the capital Nairobi.

In distressing video scenes that have gone viral, the woman screams for help as the men beat her and rip her clothes.

“I have instructed the law enforcement officers to use the instruments within the law to punish these perpetrators,” Uhuru Kenyatta said yesterday.

“There should never be a repeat of what we saw for this is a blight on the entire Kenyan society.”

More than 200 drivers have been arrested as police hunt for the culprits.

Boda-bodas – as motorcycle taxis are known – are ubiquitous across Nairobi. They are the lifeblood of the city of five million, transporting people and goods. Rates of injury or death among riders is high and riders often gang up on car drivers after an accident. Critics say the bikes are representative of rampant privatisation and the failure of the Kenyan state in the face of rapid urbanisation.

Nairobi has no effective state public transportation system and few pavements outside wealthy areas.

The city has developed along the lines of Los Angeles with elites rushing to and from fancy shopping malls and restaurants in 4x4s, while most people make do with privatised mini-buses called “matatus”, or boda-bodas.

“The boda-boda menace is a true reflection of the state of Kenya as a nation. We have seen degeneration in many aspects of our lives: politics, the police, public transport, public service,” Prof Alfred Omenya, an environmental architect, wrote.