Only grit and guts will make our roads safe

Naivasha Mp Jane Kihara joins stakeholders in signing a plague to mark World Day of Remembrance which was marked in Naivasha with speeding, careless overtaking and drunk driving identified as the major causes of road accidents. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

Kenyans fervently recall the day President William Ruto put his feet down and decided it was time to fix glitches in the sugar sub-sector. On August 28, the president publicly told investors battling over Mumias Sugar to withdraw court cases, pack up and leave or better still 'go to heaven'. Critics accused him of bullying the business community and dissing the courts. But to farmers ruined by the sugar rot, the 'mambo ni matatu' moment proved Ruto's gusto for reforms.

The end justifies the means. When we become casual about the law, it can invite brute force or what Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen would call 'autocratic' moves, to make things work in public interest. Soon after the president's sugar offensive, there were high hopes that the ailing transport industry would be the next in line among top sectors queued up for reforms and which are largely held hostage by impunity. But before Ruto turns focus to the transport sector, the festive season has revived the road safety debate. There are concerns over whether the puffing and huffing public transport sector will ever be succored. If sugar was fixed, why not transport now that Ruto has our goodwill?

This week, Mr Murkomen and police boss Japheth Koome recited the tired chorus that those flouting traffic rules this festive season will be dealt with. The CS also blamed passengers for recording unruly matatu crew on video and sharing footage online without confronting the offenders or alerting authorities. Murkomen took issue with private vehicles operating as PSVs, conflict of interest by police, and drunk driving. He spoke while launching an amorphous safety campaign dubbed 'Usalama barabarani' ostensibly to promote safe road user behavior and survivability of victims.

Wanjiku may ask: How many campaigns and 'tough' warnings, whose effectiveness can't be measured, will it take to fix the chaos? Enough just to wonder, who's to blame for regulatory failures in the matatu and boda boda space? And who's better placed, between the public, the Saccos and enforcement agencies, to lead change?

It isn't about lack of laws and campaigns. In November, a safety campaign was launched to coincide with the global observation of the global day of remembrance for traffic victims. Back in May, another campaign called 'Drive safe' was launched. There's not much to show for these and preceding national safety crusades.

On top of the many laws starting with the Traffic Act and the highway code, the National Transportation and Safety Authority (NTSA) has an action plan. Vision 2030 too has a safety programme with valuable provisions. Still, we seem to be struggling or at ease with a chaotic transport regime.

From boda boda chaos, faulty vehicles, speed limit violations, inspection gaps, bribery, bogus driver competence testing, name it, we've seen it all. Sadly, we're merely scratching the surface in seeking to have a clean, reliable, affordable and convenient PSV sector.

Decision makers, who frequently visit countries with effective transport set-ups, aren't ready to reimagine ours for enhanced people's safety and climate protection. Why, for instance, would it take years to install speed surveillance cameras? Why is it hard to nail bribe-quaffing officers? When NTSA was withdrawn from Interior to the State Department of Transport, it seemed to be the start of painstaking push for a results-oriented approach. But populism and empty threats continue.

Author David Cottrel says that doing the right thing isn't always easy...yet doing the right thing is always right. This season, President Ruto should act. We require brashness to name, shame and jail transport cartels and their networks. Last year, we had a disquieting accident casualty figure of 21,757. We must cut on these sorry statistics. The later John Michuki did it without buck-passing and finger-pointing. This is the time we need the so-called 'all-government' approach.

The writer is a communications practitioner. X:@markoloo