Nairobi — Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen now says the licenses of drivers who try to cross flooded rivers during the rainy season will be cancelled.
According to the CS, such drivers will also face legal penalties for attempted suicide and endangering the lives of passengers.
"We have seen buses and matatus attempting to cross dangerous waters, I want to put our drivers on notice, even after you have crossed the dangerous river, we will still carry out punishment in terms of cancellation of the licenses and you can also be charged for attempted suicide," Murkomen said.
Murkomen said National Government Administrative Officers (NGAOs) have been instructed to keep an eye out for drivers who are disobeying this directive.
He said out of the 120 people who have died as a result of floods, a critical number of more than half would have out rightly been avoided had the drivers not taken unnecessary risks to cross flooded rivers.
"There is no hurry, you better be late for a week even a month, but we save lives. We must be conscious, in every area where we think the river is flooded. We must deploy police officers around that place to make sure people are stopped from crossing flooded rivers," Murkomen said.
These orders are pronounced as the number of people killed by the floods that have ravaged numerous parts of the country has risen to 120 people, according to a government on Tuesday.
In a statement on Tuesday, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo stated that over 14 counties have so far been affected by the floods.
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"Currently, four counties including Tana River, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera have been identified as the worst hit while 120 people have unfortunately lost their lives," stated Omollo during a press address.
"Ten counties including Isiolo, Samburu, Kwale, Homabay, Makueni, Tharaka Nithi, Lamu, Taita Taveta, Meru and Kisumu are on high alert."
In addition, more than 112 camps are housing over 89,000 households that were displaced by the floods.
PS Omollo stated that in response to the disaster, the government has established a Command Center for Flood Emergency Response and Communication at Nyayo House in Nairobi, with the aim of recording cases and raising public awareness.
He stated that the center will support multi-agency teams to notify the public and assist in flood mitigation.
"A Command Centre for Flood Emergency Response and communication has been set up at the National Disaster Operations Centre in Nyayo House to document and report all flood disaster information from across the country following the establishment of a Multi-Agency team due to the ongoing heavy rains," Omollo said.
