Police Officer in Court over Theft of Nairobi Expressway Construction Materials

A police officer was on Monday arraigned in a Nairobi court over theft of materials used in the construction of the Nairobi Expressway.

Thomas Odira Musasa, who is attached to the Criminal Investigation Patrol Unit (CIPU), was charged alongside four other suspects for stealing pipes worth Sh275,200.

Musasa had been deployed to guard the expressway on Saturday, but he led his four accomplices namely Andrew Kones Ntikiya, Samuel Kariuki, Samuel Mutembei, and Ephantus Mwangi in the theft, according to a police report.

Ntikiya is a guard tasked with guarding the construction site while Mwangi is the driver of the vehicle that was being used to transport the stolen materials.

The five suspects were caught red-handed stealing pipes from the site at around 4:00 am and could not explain where they were taking the materials.

Constable Peter Lang’at from the CIPU division found the suspects loading the pipes into a pickup.
 
“The pickup was parked outside site K8+500 with five pieces of the pipes already loaded in it,” a police officer said.

The U$560 million expressway, the first major project in the country to be carried out through a Public-Private Partnership [PPP] model, is expected to be completed in March this year.

This road begins from Mlolongo through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Nairobi’s CBD to Westland’s area along Waiyaki Way.

Upon completion, the road is expected to significantly reduce the time spent on Mombasa Road during rush hour from about two hours to between 10 and 15 minutes.