Uproar Over Caroline Mutoko's Remarks On Nairobi Expressway Accident

However, it was Mutoko's comment on the accident that earned her stinging responses from...

Uproar Over Caroline Mutoko's Remarks On Nairobi Expressway Accident
Uproar over Caroline Mutoko's remarks on Nairobi Expressway accident. /VIRALTEAKE

Media personality Caroline Mutoko on Tuesday, July 5 rattled Kenyans On Twitter (KOT) following her remarks on the tragic road accident at Mlolongo Toll Station along Nairobi Expressway.

The accident was the second to occur on the spot in just one week and had involved an Embassava Sacco matatu plying the Nairobi-Embakasi route and a personal vehicle.

CCTV footage of the crash was later shared on social media depicting exactly what happened. However, it was Mutoko's comment on the accident that earned her stinging responses from the defiant KOT.

Accident At Nairobi Expressway Mlolongo Toll Station on July 4, 2022. /TWITTER

She had particularly expressed surprise at the matatus (public service vehicle) using the multi-billion road, even though Moja Expressway, the parent company managing the Nairobi Expressway, gave the green light for matatus to use the road.

However, by using it, matatus will pay more, as well as buses. A bus for example is charged four times more than a saloon car, which pays between Ksh120 to Ksh360.

"Wait we now have Matatus on the expressway? Courting trouble..." she wrote.

In a swift counter-attack, half of the whole country's Twitter users descended upon her with many comments ranging from rebuttals to comics to past instances where she has been caught on the firing end of the country's internet.

“It's clear you don't know 60 per cent of people who live in Nairobi walk to work, 35 per cent use public transport (matatus), and only 5 per cent of them use cars and that the biggest share of cars on the roads are government-owned. So according to you, only 5 per cent should use the Nairobi Expressway?” posed city politician Alinur Mohamed.

"According to a Gazette Notice dated December 31, 2020, only motorcycles, tuk tuks, wheelbarrows, handcarts, bicycles and scooters are not allowed to access the expressway," journalist Marvin Gakunyi schooled her.

Everyone else had taken her comments as discriminatory and a waft of elitism given that she had offended almost a majority of Kenyans who use public transport to get to their destinations, and matatu operators who earn an honest living every day.

However, some netizens argued that the driver should be investigated for the accident instead of criminalising the whole matatu industry.

"Caroline, the matatus are an indisciplined and rogue lot. I agree with you. They should keep to the barabara ya kawaida (normal road).

"This driver was speeding and probably had poor brakes. That Mlolongo exit, though, is a death trap cos it just appears around a sloping bend," noted Mwaniki Mageria.

The accident which occurred during rush hour left about twenty people injured and both vehicles toppled over. 

The footage captured the matatu speeding towards the exit but it was too late for it to brake as it tossed the moving Toyota Prado, sending it tumbling over to the ground alongside the Prado.