Transport stakeholders accuse NTSA of sleeping on job
Stakeholders in the road transport sector are accusing the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) over what they termed as failing in its role of restoring sanity on the country’s roads.
Drawn from various organizations, the angry stakeholders attributed increased road carnage to the ineffectiveness of the authority.
In particular, Chair Road Safety Association David Kiarie asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene and revoke the appointment of Director General (NTSA) George Njau who they said has been silently watching despite the surging numbers.
“We want to state categorically without fear that the new Director-General Mr Njau should pack and leave because of his incompetence, increased deaths on our roads and overseeing the worst corruption at NTSA," he said.
The Road Safety Association of Kenya said Implementation and enforcement of traffic rules should be reverted back to the police including inspection centres and driving schools.
The National Coordinator of Operation Ondoa Panya John Wamagata called for a probe on the issuance of digital driving licenses claiming that the award and subsequent renewal of the contract is shrouded in mystery.
According to Kiarie, over 5,000 fatalities have been recorded on the country’s roads while over 10,000 others have suffered various degrees of injuries resulting from the bane of road carnage with NTSA doing little to restore sanity back on the country’s roads.
Most accidents in the country have been blamed on human error with an estimated 3,000 fatalities recorded each year despite concerted efforts by the government and stakeholders.
"Its sad that our country replaced the old speed governors with trackers. Are road accidents reduced by the location of vehicles or by the behaviour and the speed of vehicles?," posed Wamagata.
Wamagata said as a way of bringing sanity to our roads, a serious overhaul should be done to even at the inspection units along Mombasa road asserting that most PSVs bribe officials even when they are faulty.
