The Kisii County Government has set up a Transport and Safety Committee to oversee the management and regulation of the road transport system.
Governor James Ongwae inaugurated the nine (9)-member committee in a ceremony attended by National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA)’s Manager –Strategies and County Coordination Samwel Musumba.
The committee is chaired by CEC for Transport Vincent Sagwe and members include the County Commissioner, Persons with Disability, County Director of Health, County Police Commander and Public Transport Operators.
“Road safety is important for the socio-economic development of this County. We must progress to the level in other countries where accidents are frowned upon and limited as much as possible,” said Governor Ongwae.
He tasked the committee to craft mitigation measures to ensure road safety across the County citing Keumbu and Daraja Mbili as areas that needed urgent attention.
“We must heighten public awareness on road safety. As a County Government, we shall train traffic marshals to supplement efforts by traffic police to manage road transport in Kisii,” added the Governor.
Mr Musumba said establishment of the committee was in line with the constitution, which mandates NTSA to collaborate with counties on transport and safety issues.
“Roads have become major killers because we lose about 3,000 people annually through road accidents. In Kisii County alone, we lost 42 people through avoidable road accidents in the past one year. This is why we must complement each other through a multi-sectoral approach hence this committee,” said Musumba.
He identified encroachment on road reserves, lack of non-motorised transport facilities like pedestrian walkways and un-regulated public transport as the main challenges in Kisii County.
“Bodaboda transport and Probox (taxi) in Kisii County is a major challenge. The law requires that they operate in Saccos but this is not happening. We must have order in how they operate,” said Musumba.
He challenged the committee to work with the Urban Planning department to provide Non-Motorised Transport features like flyovers, pedestrian walkways, and bicycle lanes in Kisii.
“I am glad that we have included road safety issues in the new curriculum being piloted in lower primary. We are now developing teaching materials for the new curriculum because we must invest in public education to succeed,” he said.
The committee will co-opt members from the Kenya National Highways Authority (KenHA), Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA).
