Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has said the operation targeting matatus will continue after traffic enforcement recorded 40,000 offences. He said the next phase will be even tougher, before attention shifts to boda-boda operators.
Speaking on Wednesday, 22 November 2018, during a public transport consultative forum with stakeholders at KICC, Matiang’i said the government wanted zero fatalities during the festive season. He said only compliant public service vehicles should remain on the road, while non-compliant ones would be impounded and held at police stations.
“This is not an exercise for a month or two. It will continue until we have only law-abiding people on the roads and compliance becomes our way of life. We are not ready to be woken up in the middle of the night that a vehicle has been involved in accident being driven by a 70-something-year-old person,” said Dr Matiang’i.
He said the public transport sector needed reform and warned that the government was preparing a tough 12 months ahead. He also said a gazette notice had already been signed creating a task force to produce a report within 60 days on how to regulate and reform the boda-boda industry.
“We want to teach them to operate in an orderly manner as they are one of the major causes of accidents in the country. We all have to style up and follow the law or stay at home. This is not a gangland where you can operate the way you want,” he said.
Matiang’i directed the National Transport and Safety Authority to prepare a booklet listing the charges that motorists face when they are stopped for inspection. He said the document should be displayed widely so that the process is transparent.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia backed the crackdown and said the ministry would keep enforcing the rules until discipline became the norm. “The tough laws are here because we have failed at self-regulation but we shall not relent until full discipline becomes our culture,” said Mr Macharia.
Macharia also said companies building vehicle bodies that fail to meet KS-372 body-building standards would be shut down from that day. He linked poor compliance to passenger deaths, saying the toll was already about 3,000 that year.
“From today any company found constructing passenger vehicles without complying with the approved standards will be closed down. We must talk candidly and agree as stakeholders on how to improve the quality,” he said.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said the ministry had introduced anonymous toll-free reporting channels for complaints against traffic officers. The contacts are 0800721230, SMS 40683 and USSD code 683#.
Kibicho said the crackdown would continue as the government pushed for zero deaths during the festive season.
