Govt orders increased road patrols to curb road carnage during festivities

Traffic police officers inspect a vehicle that was involved in an accident along the Eldoret-Kitale road. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

Acting Interior Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has directed police officers to intensify patrols on major highways to curb road accidents during the festive season, warning of stern action against traffic rule violators.

Speaking to the press in Nairobi on Thursday, Mudavadi revealed that road traffic accidents have resulted in an 11% increase in serious injuries since 2023.

"There has however been a decrease in fatalities among drivers, passengers, pillion passengers, and motorcyclists by 5.85 percent, 10 percent, 9 percent, and 10.05 percent respectively," Mudavadi stated.

He urged the public, particularly Public Service Vehicle (PSV) drivers, to exercise caution, especially when driving long distances. Mudavadi also called on the traffic department to strictly enforce vehicle roadworthiness regulations.

"I urge the  Base Commanders and officers serving within their stations to do their utmost to preserve safety and ensure no incidents occur within their jurisdictions. Every officer must be actively engaged in monitoring, reporting, and addressing any issues of non-compliance to road safety regulations," he ordered.

Addressing terrorism, Mudavadi highlighted significant achievements in the government’s fight against violent extremism. Kenya's Global Terrorism Index (GTI) impact score has improved, moving from "High" in 2023 to "Medium" in 2024.

"Our records indicated that from January 2022 to November 2024 our officers thwarted 47 terrorist attacks across the country and during that period several terrorists were eliminated and the government pushed for 11 successful convictions," he said.

Mudavadi also raised concerns about the rise in misinformation on social media. He urged Kenyans to verify the authenticity of online information and avoid falling prey to misleading posts.

On government service delivery, Mudavadi noted significant progress in addressing delays in passport and document processing.

"On e-Citizen, we have onboarded over 22,000 government services available online as 375,000 Kenyans visit the e-Citizen platform daily for different services. Over 13 million users are registered on the e-Citizen platform," he added.

He added that the Kenya Kwanza administration has streamlined payment systems, closing over 1,130 pay bills and consolidating payments into a single pay bill, 222222, for all government services.

This initiative, he said, has boosted daily revenue collection to approximately KSh 900 million.