Edgar Riches, 78, a retired bank manager from Poole, Dorset, was knocked down and killed by the Kenyan President's motorcade. The incident occurred on March 13, 2025, at 12:30 PM on Ngong Road, Nairobi, as the motorcade was taking President William Ruto to a public engagement in the city. The collision happened at a designated pedestrian crossing where Riches was nearing the end of a charity walk when a VIP support vehicle failed to yield and sped through it. The vehicle involved was a Toyota Prado belonging to a Ministry of the Interior.
Riches was in Kenya to see his sister and nephew and to raise money to sponsor building an orphanage or school in Africa. According to Daily Express - Main, his daughter Pauline Olden described that her father was in the final part of his charity walk he does every year to raise money for the country he loved visiting. She also stated that he was tragically killed while crossing at a designated pedestrian crossing by a driver going far too quickly.
Justice had not been served.
The motorcade did not stop to offer assistance to Edgar Riches after the collision. He suffered devastating head and chest injuries and died instantly. A post-mortem examination revealed he died of polytrauma injuries including severe head and chest blunt force trauma consistent with a pedestrian-vehicle collision.
Local authorities investigated the incident. The Office of the Inspector General for the National Police Service stated that the government investigation reviewed CCTV footage and determined the collision resulted primarily from the driver's failure to yield to the pedestrian and travelling at excessive speed given the location and road conditions. The driver of the Toyota Prado was charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
My father was in the final part of his charity walk he does every year to raise money for the country he loved visiting.
The driver pleaded guilty to the offence in a Kenyan court. He appeared before court magistrates on March 15, 2025, and avoided jail, instead receiving a fine equivalent to £575 (100,000 Kenyan shillings). According to Daily Express - Main, Pauline Olden noted that the police car and ambulance did not stop and the driver was fined the equivalent of a £575 fine, adding that he was able to pay it and move on with his life but we can't.
Dorset Senior Coroner Brendan Allen indicated that the Kenyan authorities provided very limited information about the incident to the inquest. Several questions remain unanswered, including what specific public engagement President William Ruto was attending, who the driver of the Toyota Prado was and what their official role or relationship to the motorcade was, why the motorcade did not stop to offer assistance after the collision, what the exact speeds involved were and how 'excessive speed' was defined in the investigation, and whether there has been any response or comment from President William Ruto or the Kenyan government regarding the incident. According to Daily Express - Main, Pauline Olden described that justice had not been served.
He was tragically killed while crossing at a designated pedestrian crossing by a driver going far too quickly.
The police car and ambulance did not stop and the driver was fined the equivalent of a £575 fine.
He was able to pay it and move on with his life but we can't.
Justice has not been served.
On March 13, 2025, at 12.30pm, a road traffic accident occurred on Ngong Road, Nairobi. The Toyota Prado belonging to a Ministry of the Interior approached the designated pedestrian crossing as Mr Riches was crossing the road. The pedestrian sustained fatal injuries. The government investigation reviewed CCTV footage and determined the collision resulted primarily from the driver's failure to yield to the pedestrian and travelling at excessive speed given the location and road conditions. The driver was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and he appeared before court magistrates on March 15, 2025. He pleaded guilty and was fined 100,000 Kenyan shillings (£575).