Two Kenyans wanted over the murder of a boda boda rider and the theft of his motorcycle in Busia County have been arrested in Uganda following a cross-border manhunt.
According to a police report, the suspects fled into the neighbouring country after allegedly killing the rider in Butula Constituency, Busia County. The Butula Constituency intelligence department said the two men are residents of the area, with one of them already wanted by police over other criminal activities.
Police said the duo assaulted the boda boda rider to death in Bujumba sub-location before escaping with his motorcycle into Uganda.
Investigations further revealed that after crossing the border, the suspects allegedly attacked another boda boda rider in Uganda, leaving him seriously injured before stealing his motorcycle and fleeing.
Ugandan security agencies launched a manhunt that led to the arrest of two of the three suspects believed to have been involved in the cross-border crime spree. Authorities recovered the motorcycle stolen from the Kenyan victim, while efforts are ongoing to trace the second motorcycle allegedly stolen from the Ugandan rider.
The suspects are expected to first face criminal charges in Uganda before being handed over to Kenyan authorities to answer additional charges linked to the murder and motorcycle theft committed in Busia County.
The arrests come amid a worrying rise in violent robberies targeting boda boda riders and motorcycle theft cases across the country.
Just a day earlier, the Wajir Law Courts sentenced two men to death after convicting them of violently robbing a boda boda rider of his mobile phone and money from his M-Pesa account. Senior Principal Magistrate Eric Malesi convicted Abdiaziz Ali Ahmed and Abdiwahab Mohamed Hassan after finding that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The court heard that on the night of November 13, 2025, the rider was riding along Baraza Park Road in Wajir Township when two men posed as passengers before about five accomplices emerged and surrounded him. The armed gang assaulted the rider, threatened to kill him, stole his phone, and forced him to withdraw money from his mobile money account before he managed to escape.
“In his judgment, Justice Malesi ruled that the prosecution had proved the charges beyond reasonable doubt,” the court found, sentencing both men to death under Section 296(2) of the Penal Code.
The back-to-back cases highlight growing concern over violent attacks targeting boda boda operators, prompting closer security cooperation between Kenya and Uganda to tackle cross-border crime.
