Ministry of Interior to review traffic management in Nairobi Metropolitan

Hundreds of motorists were stranded along Thika Superhighway on Saturday night. [courtesy]

The Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government has promised to review its traffic management to facilitate a smooth transition into curfew hours.

Through a press release by the Nairobi Regional Commander James Kianda on Sunday, April 18, the ministry agreed that the construction works on major roads was a major cause of traffic snarl-up in Nairobi City.

“We urge wananchi to plan their movements accordingly to beat the curfew hours, civic responsibility is a more potent weapon in this war than enforcement of the guidelines by the police,” read a part of the release.

The Regional Commander also noted that adherence to the Covid-19 guidelines in the Nairobi metropolitan was less than 50 per cent adding that the violation was willingly done.

According to Kianda’s statement, Saturday’s traffic snarl-up along Thika Road was occasioned by efforts of police officers to strictly enforce curfew restrictions.

This comes a few hours after the Government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna via his official Twitter account urged Kenyans to continue observing laid down protocols to flatten the curve.

“Observing these measures include strictly respecting the curfew time which starts at 8 pm for the One Zone and 10 pm for the rest of the country. Let this be a collective responsibility” read Oguna’s tweet.

The statements by the two government officials come barely a day since the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) condemned the Saturday, April 17 incident that saw thousands of motorists in Nairobi fail to reach their homes on time.

Police officers mounted roadblocks on various roads in Nairobi on Saturday night, the most affected being Thika Road, leaving most crying foul on social media, hoping for a speedy resolution.

Social media has since been buzzing with videos and pictures of blocked motorists stranded along the roads from 9 pm on Saturday.