Endless stories are said of miraa drivers… that they are speed freaks and careless road users, whose reckless ways of driving have led to loss of lives, and physical injuries to many road users, impacting on families negatively.
When asked why they speed, miraa drivers — and farmers — always give the reason that these stimulants need to get to the market in the shortest time humanly possible, because they are highly perishable.
“Inaharibika haraka sana… kuharibika ni haraka sana ata kuliko mboga” are some of the responses you will get for the drivers being bullies and reckless, putting the lives of other road users in danger. And to achieve that, miraa and muguka ferrying vehicles are driven at a thrilling high speed, true to the popular Kenyan phrase, “mwendo wa kasi kama gari za miraa.”
TV47’s Moige William embarked on a journey to document the impact of speeding miraa drivers on the society.
Close to 90% of residents of Igembe South, Igembe North, Igembe Central and parts of Tigania East in Meru County, live on miraa farming as their sole source of income. Down to Mbeere South, Mbeere North in Embu County and parts of neighboring Kirinyaga County, muguka, a variety of Khat, is one of the highest income earners for the region apart from coffee, tea and other crops.
The Igembe Farmers Welfare Association and Muguka Traders’ Association estimates the trade of the two stimulants fetches an approximate of KSh100 million daily, with over 300,000 miraa farmers in Meru and over 100,000 farmers in Embu and Kirinyaga counties dependent on the crop.
As lucrative as the Miraa and Muguka farming and trade sounds, the stimulants have been a source of devastating pain in the region. In the course of transporting these products to the market, indelible sorrowful marks are left behind, certainly, in every town that the Khat passes through on its way to different markets across the country.
Many of these cases are recorded along the Meru-Embu-Nairobi Highway.
It all starts from the farm; no time is wasted in ensuring these products get to the assortment centre where they are carefully repackaged for transportation to different destinations across the country by road.
At Piai, a border town between Kirinyaga and Embu counties, every hand in this muguka market is put to work, the product needs to be loaded on waiting cars, in this case, a Toyota Probox. And in less than an hour the truck needs to cover a 136-kilometer distance and deliver these products in the capital-Nairobi.
Reckless driving
Behind the wheel of this vehicle is a man who will hit the road, in high speed and bullishly to deliver the Khat. Our cameras made inside the cabin to get you a first account on how this vehicle is dangerously driven.
With one foot on the brake and the acceleration pedal the driver pushes this vehicle to its possible top speed along the busy Mwea – Makutano stretch. At a top speed of 140 kilometers per hour, music and a handful of muguka is all that he needs to steer the vehicle. The product has to get the market on time!
As this driver speeds the car to its destination, a tail of agony, pain, sorrow is what is left behind.
A trail of pain, agony, sorrow
This fresh grave tells it all… not long ago in this busy stretch, 47-year-old Geoffrey Kinya was knocked down by a miraa ferrying vehicle and died on the spot.
Following the January 26th 2025 deadly crash that claimed the life of Kinya, angry locals retaliated by burning the truck that was ferrying miraa.
In November 2024 another fatal road crash claimed the lives of two children in the informal settlement at the heart of Wang’uru, Mwea. Esther Njoki is yet to come to term with the loss of her 12-year-old son Michael Gichuki. Gichuki together with his 8-year-old friend were riding a bike to Mwea town to get a shave when their lives were cut short by a speeding miraa ferrying truck heading towards Nairobi.
The devastating pain inflicted by speeding miraa and muguka ferrying trucks is felt far and wide. In Meru, a family living in a silent village in Tigania East is also bearing the brunt of the high speed driven vehicles. At the home of Jackson Kobia, this graveyard serves as a painful reminder of losing a bread winner.
Do not be mistaken. The speeding trucks ferrying have not spared even the chauffeurs.
In Embu town we meet up with Ruth John, a former entrepreneur in the Muguka business now depends on clutches to move from one point to the other. Albeit able to walk on her two feet, Ruth shares that she experiences pain on her spine, a reminder on how she survived two road crushes in two days.
The mother of three who has turned into a champion of people living with disability sustained a compressed spine. She risked losing both of her legs were it not for the quick medical intervention she received.
In semi-arid region of Siakago, Mbeere North Constituency, the presence of Teresia Ndegi will no longer be felt. Ndegi was a Muguka farmer and trader when her life was cut short in 2019.
The emotional tales by the survivors of speeding Miraa and Muguka ferrying trucks portrays a national concern on the need for further engagement into the growing menace caused by the business of ferrying the stimulants.
The National Police Service has reiterated that vehicles will be expected to adhere to traffic rules in new sanctions aimed at bringing sanity in the Miraa transport. By the time of filming this report, trucks from Meru had halted business to deliberate on new stringent measures to guide the ferrying of the stimulant.
In a report by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), a surge by 2.22 percent of road crushes was reported in the year 2024 where at least 2,407 people lost their lives in road crashes between January and July 7. Miraa ferrying vehicles contributed to this alarming figures.
However, stakeholders and leaders from the miraa and Muguka region hold the opinion — through the help of government — alternatives can be achieved to facilitate the transportation of the stimulants to different markets across the country.
