How a rogue motorist ruined a waitress’ life

Mary Muinde, a waitress, left her workplace at a restaurant on Mombasa Road for a routine ride home that, however, turned horrific and ruined her life.

The harrowing ordeal cost the 28-year-old single mother of two her job, nearly had her leg cut off and the ugly scars have killed the prospects of a new job.

At around 10.30pm on December 16, 2017, Ms Muinde had ended her shift at the restaurant, exhausted from long hours of standing and shuttling while taking orders from diners. 

She had flagged down a motorcycle for the ride to her home at Mawasco area in Athi River.

As the motorcycle sped away with the cold wind blasting her face, she clutched tightly on the rider and, momentarily, her thoughts drifted away.

Loud bang

They were riding along Tuskys Road at Mang’eli Junction on the final stretch to her home when a loud bang shattered the calm of the night and the two were violently tossed into the air.

She crashed hard on the tarmac and her world went blank.

Since Ms Muinde was known to those who rushed to help, they had called her sister, Ms Jane Syombua.

The waitress was unconscious as she was rushed to the nearby Shalom Hospital, just off Mombasa Road, at the Kitengela interchange.

Her condition was considered serious and she was transferred to the Machakos Level 5 Hospital where she regained consciousness hours later.

She would later learn that the motorcycle she was riding had been hit by a maroon Toyota Surf, which then sped away.

Flesh on her left thigh and the back of the knee to the calf was torn off. Her upper lip had a deep cut and her face was swollen. But the boda-boda rider seemed to only have had minor bruises.

Witness

Luckily, another rider, Mr Victor Musembi, who had witnessed the incident, had given chase and recorded the car’s registration number.

Mr Musembi would become a crucial prosecution witness in the subsequent traffic case because the owner of the maroon vehicle that was traced to a garage the following day had denied involvement in the hit-and-run incident.

Scans on the right leg showed Ms Muinde had no fractures and she was discharged from hospital — a decision that would prove costly.

“Her condition was very bad, she should have been admitted and given the medical attention she needed,” said her brother, Mr Daniel Muinde.

The following morning as Mr Muinde and Mr Musembi went to report the accident at Athi River Police Station, they spotted the maroon vehicle parked at a garage next to a popular restaurant.

They inquired about the owner of the vehicle which had dents that were being fixed.

The group was led to the first floor of the building where they found Mr Dan Warinda.

“He refused to go with us. He was with a man who I was later told was a plainclothes officer,” recalled Mr Muinde.

Suspect questioned

The case was recorded as OB/09/17/12 at the Athi River Police Station on December 17, 2017. The police brought in Mr Warinda for questioning. He denied being involved. 

On December 18, while writhing in pain in bed at her sister’s house, Ms Muinde got a surprise visitor.

It was Mr Warinda, who was accompanied by a friend.  

“My sister (Syombua) did not know him and she led him to the bedroom, thinking he was one of my friends who had come to visit me. He shook my hand,” Ms Muinde recalled.

“He demanded that I go with him to the station and tell the police that I had confused his vehicle and that the identified car was not the one that had hit me. I refused,” said Ms Muinde. 

The two only left when the sisters alerted their brother.

“I remember that day when Syombua called me. I was so angry and told her to give Mr Warinda the phone. I told him they had one minute to leave the house. My sisters told me the two men fled immediately,” said Mr Muinde.

Threats

The family went back to the police station and recorded the threats. 

Mr Warinda was later charged with three counts at the Mavoko Law Courts. He was accused of careless driving, driving a defective vehicle and failing to stop after an accident.

Back at home, Ms Muinde’s injury worsened as her wound was slowly turning septic. She was rushed back to the Machakos Level 5 Hospital on December 25, 2017 where she was hospitalised for 35 days.

“My leg was to be amputated. The doctors told me that the wound was rotting away and would infect my entire system. I was so scared. Luckily, they decided to work on it and it was a very painful experience. But I thank God, they did not cut it off,” she narrated.

She was discharged on February 2, 2018, having incurred a Sh77,000 medical bill. The family would spend a further Sh135,000 to hire a car for almost two months of hospital visits after her discharge.

Ms Muinde had to be taken for therapy and her elderly mother came over to look after her.

Lost her job

She lost her job. In the past three years, she has been employed for a total of two months.

“I have a background in the hospitality sector. I am a waitress. Since my accident, I cannot stand for more than 10 minutes. Yet my work involves a lot of standing and moving around. The dress code, for us ladies, is mainly skirts, but I fear wearing skirts because my scar is too big; it traumatises me,” said Ms Muinde.

She narrated how she lost her job because customers kept staring at her scar after the wound was surgically grafted.

She found a job at another restaurant where, because she was constantly complaining that she could not stand for long and explained why she could not wear a skirt, she was sacked after a few days.

She is still looking for a job because she has two children, aged 10 and seven.

Ms Muinde and her children have been relying on her sisters and brother for upkeep.

While the case was going on in court in early 2018, Mr Muinde contacted Directline, the insurance firm that covered the motorist.

But because Mr Warinda had denied causing the accident, the insurance firm, in a letter dated August 22, 2018, said it was awaiting the outcome of investigations and the court case.

“We refer to your notice dated 16/08/2018 and received in our offices on 17/08/2018. We shall be grateful if you would kindly, therefore, withhold precipitate action against our insured pending completion of investigations into the alleged accident herein,” the letter read.

The victim was further directed to present a list of items to the insurer including a P3 form, a police abstract, copy of national identity card, a medical report, treatment notes and a discharge summary and receipts in support of claims for special damages.

“When we were told to wait for the investigations, I relaxed. I knew we would win the case because the entire truth could not be hidden. I told them about the court proceedings and they told me they would wait for the court ruling. Should we win, they would compensate us, and gave us claim reference number 98851/1 which they would use to compensate us,” Mr Muinde said.

Court ruling

The court ruling was eventually delivered on October 12, 2020. Chief Magistrate C.C. Oluoch found Mr Warinda guilty on two counts of reckless driving and failing to stop after causing an accident.

“I, therefore, conclude that the accused was properly identified as the person who had charge of the motor vehicle registration number KAL 402A, hit motorcycle registration number KMDS 016V causing injuries to Ms Muinde,” the magistrate ruled.

“In sum, I find that the prosecution has proved the charge of careless driving contrary to section 49(1) of the Traffic Act and failing to stop after an accident contrary to section 73(i) of the Traffic Act. I, accordingly, convict the accused in Count I and Count III,” Mr Oluoch ruled and fined the accused Sh25,000.

“I acquit him under section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Count II,” he added.

Relieved, Ms Muinde’s family rushed back to the insurance firm with the judgment. But their joy was short-lived.

“They told me that I first had to go and have my sister write a letter indicating that I will negotiate on her behalf. We did it immediately,” Mr Muinde said.

He then went back to negotiate for the compensation.

“I was directed to the claims manager called Lydia Kariru, who told me that the company was no longer paying compensation for direct claims yet they had told me to claim directly in 2018 and even told me a week earlier to come back for the negotiations. They said the policy was phased out less than a month ago yet our claim goes way back to December 2017,” said Mr Muinde.

He also added that Ms Kariru told him that Covid-19 had impacted the economy negatively and thus they had stopped paying direct claims.

Null and void

A policy in the company states that after three years, a claim automatically becomes null and void. In Ms Mundie’s case, the claim will expire on December 15, 2020.

“They know very well that by directing us to court, the deadline will pass and they will not be held liable for failing to compensate us. They are the very ones who told us to claim directly, yet this new directive did not consider old cases,” Mr Muinde said.

When contacted by the Nation, Mr Isaac Kuria, a claims manager at Directline, said he was aware of the matter and advised the victim to file a court case.

“There is nothing we could have done if the car owner denied having caused the accident. When the traffic case was sorted out, our client was found guilty and this means some liability was placed on him for causing injuries to the victim,” the claims manager said.

“Now the next step should be for the man (Mr Muinde) to go to court to seek damages. He should approach a lawyer so that we are summoned. In the past, we would have sorted out the matter out of court, but now that is impossible. We cannot pay direct claims out of court,” he said.

Questioned as to why the firm took so long to tell the victim that she should have begun the court process compelling them to pay, Mr Kuria responded: “With this new directive, we cannot help him. If the court case had been solved earlier and we knew exactly who to blame, if the insured had agreed to the offence, it would have been very easy. But this client denied, and because we represent his interests, we had to pick his side.”

“This is how injury claims are managed. The court case can take another 10 years but should he file before December 15, the claim will not be null,” Mr Kuria concluded.

This response surprised Mr Muinde who says that Mr Kuria had told him to give him up to November 26, 2020 to see how he could help resolve the matter.

“How can it be that the very day I was going to begin negotiations for the claim is when they tell me about the new directive? Had they not known that all along? These are just delaying tactics so that the time limit lapses,” he told the Nation.

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