4 October 2008
editorial
Nairobi — It's a sad day when mayors invite the media to cover a clean-up exercise in their own towns and cities--as they are wont to do-- because that is exactly what mayors are supposed to do when they report for work between Monday and Friday: ensure that the cities or towns they oversee are clean and habitable.
It's even sadder when the authorities who are supposed to regulate the public transport sector invite the media to cover sporadic crackdowns on unroadworthy vehicles that ply the roads every day under the noses of trained officers.
There's a worrying trend in this country that has developed over the years, and the cycle is horribly predictable. An accident occurs in which a large number of lives are lost. The government declares the accident a national disaster.
The government promises to treat the victims for free and in some cases, promises to pay the burial expenses for the dead.
THE MINISTER IN CHARGE AT THE time appoints a task force. The task force asks everyone questions and then writes recommendations.
By the time the recommendations are published all Kenyans, including those who are supposed to enforce rules and make sure laws are obeyed, have long forgotten why the task force was set up in the first place.
Accidents, which are daily claiming lives in the country and crippling many others, are always blamed on speed, driver recklessness and, lately, lax enforcement of existing rules.
A spot check in the city of Nairobi with its millions of commuters shows clearly that the rule requiring that passengers wear safety belts is obeyed by only a negligible number of passengers, and in many cases, public transport vehicles do not even have the required safety features to begin with.
For the most part, safety belts are a private car affair.
And even where the belts are in place, in most cases they are dirty, prompting even those who want to use them to think twice.
Ironically, public transport vehicles drive past police officers every few minutes. The law is broken right under the noses of those supposed to enforce it until there is a disaster or a crackdown.
There is no gainsaying that the ball on the enforcement of traffic rules lies squarely at the door of the Ministry of Internal Security which in turn oversees the Police Force.
That is an inescapable fact, and the faster Prof George Saitoti and Maj Gen Hussein Ali realise that they must not only do something about road carnage but be seen doing something about it, we will not contain the madness that is claiming valuable lives and confining many more to wheelchairs and sick beds.
The two eminent gentlemen should crack the whip and ensure their juniors are enforcing the law before its time to announce the formation of yet another task force to investigate yet another tragic road accident in the country.
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