Stolen Mercedes Tales from Kenya | Kikis History

 Stolen Mercedes Tales from Kenya

Paul Ngei Mercedes

One of the most infamous stolen Mercedes Benz incidents in Kenya involved the KNM 190, an S300 model. Paul Ngei, a government minister, famously "borrowed" it from DT Dobie for what turned out to be a prolonged two-decade test drive. He instructed DT Dobie to invoice the government, but since he appropriated the car for personal use, the dealer was never compensated. Decades later, when auctioneers attempted to repossess the car from Ngei's residence, they discovered it was still registered under DT Dobie’s name, making their efforts futile. Ironically, Ngei continued to bring the vehicle to DT Dobie for maintenance, where they routinely urged him to retrieve it.

However, there was another significant theft involving a Mercedes that resulted in diplomatic tension. During the 1960s, amidst hostilities between Kenya and Somalia, an incident involving President Moi's Mercedes Benz escalated the situation. In the mid-1970s, two Somalis hijacked Moi’s car and fled to Mogadishu. The initial diplomatic efforts by Kenya resulted in the arrest of the culprits and the seizure of the vehicle. Nevertheless, Somali President Siad Barre intervened, demanding their release and the return of the car to them. By the time this episode was recounted in Hussein Ali Dualeh’s 1994 book "From Barre to Aideed", the once-prized vehicle lay abandoned as a mere shell near Garowe, Central Somalia, following the fall of Barre—who Moi had, in a twist of fate, briefly sheltered after he was ousted from power in Mogadishu.

This wasn’t Moi's only encounter with theft. In the early 1960s, his residence was burglarized, resulting in the loss of money, clothing, and household goods. The criminal was apprehended and prosecuted by Charles Njonjo, highlighting a string of personal losses Moi faced even as he navigated political challenges.