This archive report was first published on 24 October 2019.
As Kenya's road safety standards continue to deteriorate, it is imperative that we take concerted action to address this crisis. The rapid motorization of low and middle-income countries has made road safety a pressing concern, and Kenya is no exception. The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has reported a staggering 27% increase in motorcycle-related accidents this year, resulting in at least 684 deaths.
According to the Motorcycle Assemblers Association of Kenya (MAAK), there are approximately 600,000 commercial motorcycles operating in Kenya, highlighting the magnitude of this business and its impact on the country's economy. It is therefore crucial that regulators craft appropriate laws and regulations to manage the sector and mitigate the rising cases of accidents.
Public-private partnerships are a vital component in addressing this crisis. Corporates and large organizations can spearhead initiatives, programs, and campaigns to change the situation. The government, through NTSA, has put in place guidelines and is enforcing steps to combat this scourge. Road safety campaigns have become a critical component in fighting danger on the roads.
Spanish delivery firm Glovo has partnered with NTSA to educate independent couriers on best practices around road safety and encourage them to observe road safety while delivering products. This partnership articulates the need for every rider to adopt safer behavior as a matter of habit to avert bodaboda-related accidents.
It is through such partnerships that we can drive towards ensuring we reduce the number of road accidents and that our roads are safe. The private sector can initiate internal processes to buttress the government's greater agenda of attaining safety in our roads. Legislation alone is not enough; we need to walk through the fine print of the same and realize the need and importance of instilling discipline within our own internal mechanisms.
Government, private sector, civil societies, and all other parties have a stake in this. Government is playing its part, but they can only do so much. Effectuating this by themselves will continue to be a mirage that will forever evade us if we do not make this a collective responsibility.
Through proper and effective collaborations and partnerships, we can create structures, initiate campaigns, and drive programs to bolster the government's agenda of road safety and provide alternative measures of supporting the same. Public-private partnerships have worked in other sectors, and we can leverage on this to spur road safety and create a world benchmark for other countries to learn from Kenya.
It is fundamentally critical that we support this so that we can safeguard the potential of this sector and thus support our economy.
