Rose Mbugua, Former Radio Africa Journalist, Dies in Nairobi Motorcycle Crash
A young journalist just lost her life on Uhuru Highway, here's what happened
Rose Mbugua, a 24-year-old former Radio Africa journalist, died on Friday evening after the motorcycle she was riding on collided with a concrete mixer along Uhuru Highway in Nairobi. The crash happened near the University Way roundabout at around 5.30pm. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Both vehicles were headed from Westlands toward the city centre when the motorcycle hit a pavement and lost control, as per The Star. It slammed into the left side of the concrete mixer. Mbugua, riding as a passenger, was thrown off. She suffered severe head injuries and didn’t survive.
Police were at the scene shortly after and have since moved her body to Nairobi’s City Mortuary for a post-mortem. She reportedly wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, according to Kahawatungu. Police say investigations into exactly how it happened are still ongoing, and no findings have been made public yet.
A young career cut short
Colleagues who worked with Mbugua remember her as hardworking and humble, someone who took the job seriously without making a show of it. Her death has hit Kenya’s media circles hard, coming not long after the industry lost KTN cameraman Japheth Makau and Standard Media videographer Idi Rashid within weeks of each other.
Motorcycle crashes remain the single biggest cause of road deaths in Kenya, and Friday’s tragedy is another reminder of how routine that danger has become on roads like Uhuru Highway.
Motorcycle taxis move a huge share of Nairobi daily, and deaths like this one keep exposing how little protection riders and their passengers actually have on the road.
