A tragic incident has claimed the life of a traffic police officer in Nairobi after she was allegedly knocked down by a lorry while carrying out her duties, leaving behind a grieving family and colleagues in the police service.
Corporal Joyce Muthoni Mwicigi died at Nairobi West Hospital on Saturday, August 22, 2026, hours after she was struck while directing traffic at a busy junction in Makadara.
According to police sources at Makongeni Police Station, the fatal incident occurred on Friday, August 21, at approximately 12:30pm at the intersection of Lungalunga Road and Mogadishu Road.
Corporal Muthoni was reportedly standing at the junction, directing motorists and regulating traffic flow, when an Isuzu lorry allegedly approached from the House of Manji direction heading towards Donholm.
The lorry, registration number KZQ 282, reportedly reached the junction as the officer signalled its driver to stop to allow other motorists to safely merge onto Mogadishu Road.
What happened next turned the busy intersection into a scene of chaos.
Police reports indicate that the driver allegedly ignored the officer’s instructions and continued moving, striking Corporal Muthoni as she performed her duties.
The impact reportedly left the officer with serious injuries, including a fractured pelvis, severe facial cuts and extensive bruising.
Rather than stopping to assist the injured officer, the driver allegedly sped away from the scene.
The situation became even more dangerous moments later when the runaway lorry reportedly collided with three other vehicles, compounding the destruction at the busy junction.
Emergency responders rushed Corporal Muthoni to Nairobi West Hospital, where doctors battled to save her life.
She remained under medical care for approximately 26 hours before she was pronounced dead at around 2:10pm on Saturday, August 22.
Her death has sent shockwaves through the police service, particularly among colleagues who knew her as an officer committed to maintaining order and safety on Nairobi’s busy roads.
Senior police officers visited the scene following the incident as investigations into the circumstances surrounding the crash commenced.
The three vehicles damaged during the subsequent collisions were towed to a police yard for inspection as investigators began piecing together the events leading to the fatal crash.
At the time of the incident, the driver of the Isuzu lorry had reportedly not been apprehended. The vehicle remains a key subject of police investigations as officers work to establish the whereabouts of the driver and determine the circumstances that led to the fatal collision.
Corporal Muthoni’s death has also renewed concerns about the dangers faced by traffic officers who stand in the middle of busy roads every day to regulate motorists and prevent accidents.
Her death comes amid memories of another similar tragedy previously reported by Trending Kenya News, in which a traffic officer directing vehicles at the junction of Valley Road and Ralph Bunche Road was killed after a speeding matatu reportedly lost control and struck him.
The latest incident is likely to intensify calls for motorists to exercise greater caution and respect traffic officers, whose work often places them directly in the path of moving vehicles.
For Corporal Joyce Muthoni Mwicigi’s family and colleagues, however, the tragedy is more personal—a dedicated officer who went to work to keep others safe returned home no more.
