President Ruto on Wednesday emphasized the critical role of road transport in Kenya’s economy, highlighting the need for safe roads to sustain economic growth and competitiveness.
Speaking during the launch of the National Road Safety Plan in Nairobi, the head of state stressed the importance of law enforcement agencies in ensuring compliance with traffic laws and regulations, with a zero-tolerance approach to negligence on the roads.
“The target as was said by the chair is to cut down by 50%. I will be looking out for the 50%. Everything in between you have my support you have the support of this administration to do it but the people of Kenya and I will be focused on results,” he said on Wednesday.
The head of state expressed his concerns over the number of deaths and injuries recorded from accidents, stating that it has eroded Kenyans’ trust in using Kenyan roads.
“We have 20,000 people in hospital because of different kinds of accidents. We are using a colossal amount of money trying to treat them. Families are using breadwinners, fathers, mothers, and it is devastating,” he said.
He further gave Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen an ultimatum of one year to have satisfactory results on the reduction of accidents when the next meeting is held.
Statistics indicate that 32 percent of road accident fatalities involve boda boda riders, while pedestrians account for 38 percent of fatalities on Kenyan roads.
Recent data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) shows that at least 1,213 people have been killed in road accidents in the past three months.
Pedestrians account for the largest number of fatalities at 445, followed by motorcyclists at 285 and passengers at 259. According to the data captured between January and April 3, pillion (motorcycle) passengers came fourth at 103 followed by drivers (99) and pedal cyclists (24).