Super Metro buses seek inspection after suspension

Some of the 294 vehicles belonging to Super Metro SACCO at the National Transport and Safety Authority(NTSA)headquarters for Inspection before they are allowed back on the road. [Benard Orwongo,Standard]

Passengers who use Super Metro Sacco vehicles within Nairobi and its Metropolitan counties continued to suffer for the second day on Friday.

This is after National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) on Thursday suspended the over 500 minibuses over death of a passenger along Thika Road and which was allegedly caused by their tout.

It is alleged the tout pushed a male passenger out of the moving vehicle after he refused to pay the Sh30 fare, causing his death.

The sacco vehicles ply Kitengela, Utawala, Thika Road, Ngong, Waiyaki Way-Kikuyu routes.

They are preferred by many passengers due to affordable, fixed and transparent fares, no excess carrying, respectful, disciplined crew and clean and comfortable buses.

Yesterday, 294 vehicles that NTSA had requested for inspection were driven to NTSA’s Industrial Area station along Likoni Road.

When we arrived there in the morning, we witnessed a long queue of vehicles being inspected.

According to an inspection officer who requested anonymity because he is not allowed to talk to the media, they were looking at body work, speed limiter, whether they have been transmitting real-time data to NTSA system and if they have not been driving beyond the allowed 80k speed limit.

“We are also looking at knowing whether seat-belts are usable, checking tyres, mechanical of the vehicle among others,” he said.

Our attempts to talk to some drivers and officials from the Super Metro were futile.

They said the sacco directors were in a closed-door meeting somewhere and will address the media later.

By the time of going to the press, they had not spoken to the media.

The authority NTSA before suspending the sacco said that 15 of the company's 523 vehicles had expired inspection certificates, while eight had expired Road Service Licences. 

The same vehicles must also undergo inspection at the Likoni Motor Vehicle Inspection Centre, where they are required to obtain compliance reports.  

In addition, 42 drivers from the list of 109 with speed violations are required to undergo a retest at the Likoni Driver Test Centre. NTSA also ordered the company to disengage any unqualified drivers.

Also, 294 vehicles were flagged for what it called various speed limiter infractions, such as expired certificates, a lack of proper speed limiter records, and instances of vehicles exceeding the 80 km/h limit.

The sacco blamed NTSA on the issue of speed limiters, saying they are the ones together with Kenya Bureau of Standards(KEBS) who authorise the dealers.

 “One of the issues NTSA raised while suspending Super Metro, which is our member, was speed limiters. When we take vehicles to NTSA for inspection, even if they are new, the limiters are often deemed faulty,” said Mass Mobility Operators Association Vice Chairman Joseph Kagai during a media briefing on NTSA's suspension of Super Metro licence on Thursday in Nairobi.   

He added: “The vendors selling these gadgets are licensed by the Kenya Bureau of Statistics and NTSA, which is why we trust them. When faults arise, it is not the mistake of the Sacco or the investors.”

The association called upon NTSA to investigate those licensed to sell speed limiters, claiming that some of the devices in the market bear quality marks but are actually counterfeit.

Our attempts to reach to NTSA’s director general George Njao to comment on inspection of the vehicles and speed limiters was futile as we were told by the communication team that he was held up somewhere.