Meet The Mechanic Who Stole Uhuru Kenyatta’s Car And What Happened To Him After He Was Arrested

A man previously sentenced to death for his role in the dramatic 2014 carjacking of a vehicle from former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s motorcade has been set free after the High Court overturned his conviction.

On August 26, 2014, in Utawala, Nairobi, Achieng and four accomplices — including clearing agents Andrew Young Otieno, Godfrey Ouma Simon, Robert Mande Ochan (a Ugandan), and mason Nelson Topicho Mulati — ambushed former Chief Inspector of Police David Machui.

The gang, armed with an AK-47 rifle and a pistol, hijacked Machui’s BMW 735 escort vehicle (registration KAW 479Y), valued at around KSh 1.2 million. The car was part of the presidential escort fleet.

The robbers forced Machui into the back seat and drove off with him, later abandoning him six hours later near the Administration Police Training College in Embakasi.

According to court reports, Achieng, who acted as the group’s mechanic, disabled the car’s GPS tracker in a Nairobi garage before driving the vehicle to Kampala, Uganda, with intentions to sell it.

Following his arrest, Achieng was found guilty of robbery with violence and handed a mandatory death sentence for using excessive force during the attack.

However, in Criminal Appeal E061 of 2022, Justice Grace Nzioka of the High Court in Nairobi quashed both the conviction and sentence on March 14, 2023.

The judge ruled that the prosecution’s case rested entirely on unreliable dock identification by the complainant, noting the absence of an identification parade or corroborating evidence — thereby creating reasonable doubt.

Achieng was ordered released unless held for any other lawful reasons.

As of October 2025, no public records indicate any further legal action or re-arrest against him.