Nairobi — Last year, Police Commissioner Hussein Ali formed a special police unit to monitor the highways. The unit was meant to go beyond complementing traffic police in ensuring smooth flow of traffic, safety of motorists and commuters on the road and adherence to the Traffic Act.

Its mandate was simple: Stop spiralling incidents of carjacking and violent robberies on the roads and arrest highway thugs. The unit was given new vehicles and is one of the most equipped departments of the Force.

To its credit, incidents of highway robberies fell drastically last year. Cases of buses and trucks being ambushed declined and motorists were safer travelling at night.

However, the past seems to be catching up with us fast. On Monday night, a bus headed to Kampala was hijacked and passengers lost millions of shillings to thieves. A policeman was also killed. The fact that this occurred barely 10 days after a similar attack is worrying.

Is the Nairobi, Nakuru and Eldoret highway becoming a gangsters' paradise again? Police have been caught flatfooted and they must spring to action pronto. They have the equipment and personnel to police roads and wipe out thugs.

As for bus companies, they should liaise with the police and develop a thug-proof method of scrutinising passengers. This calls for reviewing the manner of picking up and dropping off passengers. Commuters also have a duty to ensure their safety by taking basic precautions. For instance, there is no need to carry a lot of money in this era of electronic banking.