Bad matatu habits in Nairobi

Following the latest upsurge of death cases and injuries resulting from the recent numerous road accidents hampering the country, the Media Owners Association in partnership with Safaricom have now launched a nationwide road safety campaign. During a recently held workshop in Nairobi that was attended by the civil society, government authorities and the private sector, it was mentioned that the Trust would be mandated to come up with sound road safety regulations aimed at enlightening the public on the best appropriate measures to be adopted in order to reduce the menace.

The campaign seeks to mitigate the now ‘national problem’ and will be spearheaded by the National Road Safety Trust. The event also brought together the National Oil Corporation’s Managing Director Sumaiya Athman and the Matatu Owner’s Association chairman Simon Kimutai.

Safaricom’s CEO and Trust’s co-founder Bob Collymore expressed the need to have stringent measures in place to curb the problem which has over the years proved to be a thorn in the flesh. Speaking during the event, Bob said, “In a day road accidents claim about 10 people, yet we aren’t giving this problem the same attention it demands compared to terror related activities that kill about 30-40 annually.”

Speaking on behalf of the Media Owners Association, Mr. Kiprono said that they’ve dedicated to offer both electronic and print coverage for the campaign, maintaining that through public education and awareness, a major role will be played in educating and edifying the members of the public. Mr. Wachira Waruru, an official in the Media Owners Association added that, “This is a matter of life and death. It’s the high time we embraced this campaign to save innocent lives on our roads.”

Traffic Commandant Benson Kibui pledged that his men will be in the frontline too insisting that they’ll extend logical support to the campaign especially on the City’s hotspots such as the newly constructed and notorious Thika Superhighway.

Meanwhile, a nine-member board was appointed to chair the Trust with representatives from all quarters of the stakeholders. A two year renewal term was approved for their stay in office as official members of the board.

© 2012, Roggers Momata. All rights reserved.