CS: Police to help NTSA curb road deaths

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said yesterday that traffic police officers will now be seconded to National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to enforce the law on the roads.

Murkomen maintained that drivers shall be re-tested and those found to have alcohol and drug abuse problems denied renewal of licenses.

“We will bring back Police Officers to NTSA. Statistics show that most accidents are as a result of drivers’ behaviour,” the Minister said when he appeared before the Senate yesterday.

He added: “World over everybody goes through re-testing. PSV drivers should be re-tested. They should be tested for alcohol and drug abuse and those found with issues should be barred from driving.”

He called on passengers to take responsibility and avoid boarding unroadworthy and overloaded public transport vehicles and call out rogue drivers.

“Citizens have a responsibility of protecting themselves from some of the accidents. There are some PSV that carry more than their capacity. Passengers have a responsibility of not boarding such a vehicle.

There was a matatu that had 24 passengers and was carrying four bags of maize. They knew that the vehicle was overloaded but went ahead to board.”

Murkomen said the Ministry of Roads has pending bills of Sh150 billion, making completion of various roads under construction a challenge.

Skewed budgetary allocation to various roads agencies, he said, had made it difficult to compensate land owners who have surrendered their parcels for road construction.

He said hundreds of landowners along the Kibwezi-Kitui road, James Gichuru-Limuru road, Kenol-Marua road and the Western Bypass have not been compensated due to budgetary constraints.

Double compensation

He was responding to Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua who sought a statement on the status of compensation of residents whose parcels of land were acquired during the construction of Kibwezi-Athi-Mutomo-Kitui-Migwani road.

“Could the Cabinet Secretary indicate the outstanding balance of compensation, and state when it will be paid?” posed Wambua

In response, Murkomen said compensation Schedule for the Project Affected Persons amounting to Sh694.9 million was initially submitted to Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) vide a letter from the National Lands Commission dated February 18, 2019.

But, according to the CS, the schedule had errors, including double compensation and over-valuation of structures, adding that NLC addressed the issues and resubmitted a revised Schedule that covers the entire project amounting to Sh1.9 billion.

“KeNHA has been faced with financial challenges due to inadequate budget allocation. However, the agency has since disbursed Sh326,307,801 to NLC for compensation to some of the PAPs,” he said.

Murkomen said the compensation process had started for the extension to Mbondoni direction, adding that the Employer’s Representative Assistance team had conducted land searches for the affected parcels the agency was in the process of validating the search, which will be sent to NLC for gazettement of Intention to Acquire.

“We have a problem with pending bills. As a Ministry we have a pending bill of Sh150 billion. When the budget is approved of Sh100 billion, during the Supplementary budget it is again reduced. We will continue having this problem of pending bills,” said Murkomen.

Freewheeling trucks

Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda asked Murkomen to provide comprehensive data and records on road accidents involving tractors transporting sugarcane from farms to factories in sugarcane-growing areas in Kisumu County since 2017.

The CS said the Ministry, through NTSA, conducts road safety sensitization forums quarterly with cane processing factories operating within Kisumu and its environs.

According to Murkomen, most accidents involving cane trucks were due poor visibility of cane truck drivers on the road and failure to observe operating hours.

In addition, most drivers freewheel, especially when approaching a flyover, to gain momentum to move uphill, resulting in accidents and frequent breakdowns.

He said that at Kasagam flyover, several sugarcane trucks had rolled due to freewheeling.

“These facilities have been designed to be navigated at a certain speed. For example, the maximum speed for the Kasagam flyover is 40kmph. Thus, a driver going at any speed above the limit is at risk of causing accidents,” he said.