This archive report was first published on 7 August 2020.
On August 25, 2018, lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi was traveling from Arusha, Tanzania to Nairobi with his children when his Bentley's windscreen was damaged by a stone from repair works on the Nairobi-Namanga Highway.
According to court records, workers from the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) were re-carpeting the highway, and shrapnel hit the windscreen, shattering it.
Abdullahi testified that KeNHA was negligent in failing to put up road signs to warn him and other motorists of the ongoing repairs.
KeNHA, however, denied liability, claiming that Abdullahi did not report the incident to the nearest police station or any of its offices.
Assistant Director Fredrick Oyuga faulted Abdullahi for not reporting the incident and suggested that the damage could have occurred in Tanzania, and that the lawyer was probably driving at high speed.
Magistrate Edwin Mulochi, however, ruled in favor of Abdullahi, stating that KeNHA had a duty of care to road users and that it was negligent in failing to erect signs or divert traffic during the repairs.
On August 7, 2020, the court ordered KeNHA to pay Abdullahi Sh 750,311 for the damages.
