The Kenyan Cabinet chaired by President William Ruto has expressed its concerns over the rising cases of road accidents across the country. The cabinet attributed the surge in cases of road crashes to human error along major highways in the country. To address the issue, the cabinet directed the National Police Service (NPS) and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to heighten surveillance and crackdown on motorists flouting traffic rules.
The directive follows a tragic accident involving a public service vehicle and a lorry along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway on Tuesday, April 18. Preliminary reports indicated that five students lost their lives in the crash, while seven others sustained injuries. In another incident, four people died after a Tahmeed bus overturned along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on Monday, April 17. On April 15, ten people also died after a bus lost control and rolled at the Josa area along Wundanyi-Mwatate road in Taita Taveta County. The bus was reportedly speeding before it crashed.
As a result of the surge in accidents, stakeholders have called on NTSA to revise its motor inspection mandate to allow only roadworthy vehicles on Kenyan highways. In a media interview on Tuesday, April 18, Edward Gitonga, the Speed Governor and Road Safety Association chairperson, indicated that some public service vehicles were colluding with NTSA officials to obtain inspection certificates. “The buses are no longer going for inspections; they are just given letters allowing them to hit the road,” Gitonga stated. He added, “What we want to say is that let the standard be the threshold to everyone; let it not be that this governor belongs to who and who.”
David Kiarie Njoroge, the Road Safety Association of Kenya chairperson, also called on NTSA to impose mandatory rules on sticking inspection certificates on all PSVs. He argued that the move was key to taming cases of unroadworthy cars on Kenyan highways.
The rising cases of road accidents have been a cause for concern for many Kenyans. Experts blame the surge in accidents on various factors, including poor road conditions, reckless driving, and non-compliance with traffic rules. The government has vowed to take stern action against those flouting traffic rules to restore sanity on the roads. With the recent surge in accidents, the government’s efforts to ensure road safety have become more crucial than ever.