This archive report was first published on 14 December 2019.
On November 22, Josphat Kinyili, a 28-year-old boda boda mechanic from Eastleigh, traveled to Wajir for the first time after being offered a job at a newly opened motorcycle garage.
He had met the man offering him the job, identified as Chairman, while running his own garage in Eastleigh. Chairman persuaded him to close it down, promising a permanent job with a monthly salary of Sh12,000.
Three days after starting work in Wajir, Kinyili's grandmother died in Machakos, and he asked his employer for time off to travel for the burial. As agreed, he boarded a bus to Mandera on the night of December 5.
While in Eastleigh, Kinyili had been asked by Chairman's brother to buy motorcycle spare parts and deliver them to the garage in Wajir. He was also asked to constantly update Chairman and his brother on his journey by phone calls.
However, when Kinyili called Chairman and his brother just before the attack, they refused to pick up. He called them at least five times, but none of them answered.
At around 5pm, as the bus was approaching Katulo, a man dressed in a uniform resembling that of the Kenya Forest Service flagged down the bus. He was not armed and walked into the bus before walking out.
Barely a kilometre later, the bus was flagged down by seven people dressed in uniforms resembling those of KDF officers. They were armed with AK47s and ordered all passengers to alight.
It was only after he heard them shout at passengers to lie down that Kinyili realized the men were not KDF soldiers or police officers but criminals. They spoke in Kiswahili, ordering the passengers to lie down on their stomachs.
Passengers were divided into two groups - locals and non-locals. Kinyili tried to squeeze himself into a seat where local women were hiding but was ordered to leave. He eventually disembarked and saw one of the armed men filming the events.
With another man who was a police officer, Kinyili ended up on the group of locals before being ordered to leave and join the non-locals. It was while walking to join the non-locals that he splintered into the bush to save his life.
The armed men shot at him three times, but luckily, none of the bullets hit him. Inside the bushes, Kinyili met a policeman who had jumped out of the window. They walked for about five kilometres in the thickets as they sought help.
At around 6.30pm, they saw a lorry ferrying miraa coming from the opposite direction and waved at the driver to stop. However, the driver drove off. They eventually got help at around 7pm when they saw a KDF lorry headed in the direction of the attack. They flagged it down, and the KDF officers allowed them to board.
They were booked into a lodging and airlifted to Nairobi the following day.
