On Tuesday, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen announced the return of National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) officials to Kenyan roads.
He said the decision was made after deliberations with Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki.
The directive will reverse an order issued by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018 which put the NTSA under the Ministry of Interior.
When the Kenya Kwanza came to power without any consideration, they moved NTSA to the Ministry of Transport which has now backfired.
“We are going to establish a mechanism where the previous directive to remove NTSA from enforcement will be vacated and a collaborative regime between NTSA and NPS will be put in place for a more efficient enforcement.”
“You will be seeing a return of the NTSA working with traffic police to enforce traffic safety on our roads as soon as possible,” Murkomen said in a statement on Tuesday.
Murkomen stated that the decision was made after having consultations with Kindiki.
PRESS STATEMENT ON THE RECENT ACCIDENTS ON OUR ROADS. pic.twitter.com/eCPlbbmwOt
— KIPCHUMBA MURKOMEN, E.G.H (@kipmurkomen) March 19, 2024
Murkomen noted that his ministry together with the Interior will put in place a collaborative regime between the NTSA and the National Police Service for a more efficient enforcement
Murkomen said that the NTSA officers will now collaborate with the traffic police.
This means they will be moved to the Ministry of Interior for ease of operations.
This was among the directives issued by the CS after a grisly road accident occurred along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway on Monday involving a Kenyatta University bus and a trailer.
The re-testing of all PSV and Heavy Commercial drivers that had been postponed after an outcry from the sector will now be implemented without further delay.
All stakeholders are expected to comply and cooperate, he said.
At least 11 students from Kenyatta University lost their lives in the accident.
According to NTSA, from January to February 2024, road accidents across the country have claimed 649 lives.
The statistics are an increase compared to the 623 recorded during the same period in 2023.
Kindiki too announced the immediate commencement of a nationwide crackdown to curb road accidents.
The CS who spoke in Kisumu said the crackdown will target all unroadworthy vehicles (private, public, institutional), drivers, riders, and pedestrians.
The CS directed law enforcement agencies across the country to immediately develop and implement a nationwide program for Traffic Law enforcement to stem the devastating tide of deaths and injuries arising from road traffic accidents.
“We must obey traffic rules, we must all work together and clean our roads from all manner of rogue road users who are careless,” Kindiki said.
Murkomen said they have progressed with the development of the Draft Rule and Regulations on Drunk Driving as well as the Operation of Heavy Commercial Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Inspection.
The instruments, which are set to be presented to the Parliamentary
Committees on Delegated Legislation and Transport within the first week of April, will go a long way in addressing
both the behavioral and mechanical risks observed on the roads, he said.
“We have finalized the drafting of the School Transport Rules aimed at better regulating and enhancing safety in the transportation of our children.”
“These regulations contain the provisions that will inter alia:– anchor the usage of vehicular telematics technology (a system that enables close monitoring of vehicle movements from a distance) whose standard is currently being concluded by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS),” he said.
The rules will make it mandatory for those building school buses to include materials and technology that will protect passengers in case of accidents and introduce school vehicle attendants for pre-primary and
primary school children.
There will be the introduction of enhanced safety features for school vehicles including red light indicators, stop arms, and CCTV, requirements for the development and implementation of school transport operations policy, and safer procedures for the operation of school vehicles.
He said following approval from the National Treasury, the Ministry, through NTSA, is soon concluding the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement that will result in the implementation of the instant fine system, operationalization of the demerit point system, driver profiling through the capturing of their driving history and installation of speed enforcement cameras on all major roads and highways.
Already, piloting is ongoing across the country.
The Cabinet has also approved the establishment of the Kenya Transport Accident Investigation Bureau, which will be an independent and autonomous agency for the investigation of road, rail, and water transport.
The Bill is currently with the Attorney- General for publication.
“This Bureau will work independently and thoroughly investigate all transport-related accidents and make recommendations to stem the rising fatalities,” he said.
He directed driver re-testing of all PSV and Heavy Commercial drivers, which had been postponed after an outcry from the sector without further delay.
NTSA will put in place measures for the implementation of medical testing of all drivers as required by Section 105A(1) and (2) and Rule 30(4) of the Traffic (Driving Schools, Driving Instructors and Driving License) Rules 202 before the issuance of any new driving licenses and renewal thereof to ensure that only medically fit drivers are licensed to drive.
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