Bolt speaks after being involved in kidnapping incident
Travel and transport company in Kenya, Bolt, has issued a statement on their twitter handle assuring their clients that they value and prioritise their safety.
"At Bolt we take the safety and well-being of our passengers very seriously and we strictly condemn any acts of violence or aggression," the tweet read.
" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">The statement by Bolt comes after it was alleged that veteran journalist, Ciru Muiruri's daughter, Erica Gachoka and her friend, Shanice Agose, had ordered a ride from the Bolt App, which led to their kidnapping.
It is alleged that on Sunday June 4, 2023, the two victims went missing after requesting a ride using the Bolt App to take them from Westlands to Kilimani area.
Upon boarding the vehicle, it is alleged that the driver of the bolt ride threatened to harm them with a hammer when the vehicle entered Rhapta Road in Westlands, after which he changed route with the two towards Thika.
A team of detectives from the Directorate of Criminal investigations’ Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau and the Operations branch, rescued the two ladies on Monday, June 12, 2023.
In a statement released on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, Bolt stated that they collaborated with the authorities to aide the kidnapping case and thanked them for rescuing the girls.
"We are aware of the recent safety incident and deeply appreciate the local authorities’ efforts to ensure that the two young girls were found and safely reunited with their families. We proactively collaborated with the authorities to provide pertinent information regarding this case that
supported the conclusion of this investigation," the statement read.
Bolt detail verification
In addition, Bolt warned the users against the use of vehicles whose details do not match those on the platform, blaming the kidnap on the said practice.
"We strongly discourage the use of vehicles that do not match the details on the platform, as this was one of the issues that led to this unfortunate incident," statement read. 
The taxi hailing company, further went ahead to explain to its users, 'the features the application has, to ease the process of detail verification. "To address this, we show riders the driver and car verification details when they request a ride. Riders are encouraged to confirm that the driver and car registration details during their pickup match those on the app.
In their statement, Bolt also highlighted the measures they take and have introduced to 'enhance safety of their clients'. "We immediately block drivers that exhibit such behavior. We also introduced the driver selfie check feature on the platform to enhance safety and prevent driver impersonation and account sharing," the statement outlined.
How to seek for help
Bolt also informed their users about the steps they need to take in case they require medical assistance or security during their bolt ride.
"Our driver and rider apps also have an SOS emergency button that can be used to alert, and seek for security and/or first-response medical assistance at any time during an active trip," the statement further outlined.
Concluding their statement, Bolt assured stated that they 'value and prioritize the safety of not only their clients but also their drivers'. The transport company also shared the communication channels that the riders can use to report any incident to their support team.
"The safety of our drivers and riders remains our highest priority. This is why we strongly encourage all riders and drivers to report any incidents to our Customer Support team through our in-app support feature, accessible from the Bolt application menu or via [email protected]," the statement concluded.
