By Patricia Mollyne Mataga
Traffic police officers will henceforth not be the only ones with powers to ensure adherence to traffic laws, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has announced.
The CS in a post on his verified X handle on Thursday said any police officer will now be expected to take action in the event a road user flaunts the law.
According to Murkomen, the new directive is based on an order issued by President William Ruto on Wednesday. The new move, the Transport CS noted, is meant to enhance enforcement of the laws and help curb rising cases of road accidents.
“Following the directives issued by his Excellency the President, ALL Police officers are under instructions to enforce the LAW without considering their police departments,” Murkomen said in part of the post.
“Such errant DRIVERS, RIDDERS & PASSENGERS will be in aloooooot of trouble. The numbers MUST FALL,” he added while referring to photo of a boda boda rider carrying four passengers – in total disregard of the law. The law provides that a rider can only carry one passenger at a time. However, it has almost become a must for boda boda operators to carry more than one passenger.
On Wednesday, President Ruto said tough action will be taken against those who violate traffic laws and cause deaths and injuries.
The President further said road negligence must stop and road safety measures enhanced, including the adoption of modern technologies to enhance monitoring of traffic violations and the introduction of instant fines.
Saying that no one will be exempted from road safety compliance, the Head of State pointed out that the government is dealing with corruption among traffic police officers because the vice makes them turn a blind eye to speeding and reckless driving which then causes accidents.
“Our justice, law and order agencies must coordinate and sustain robust law enforcement by ensuring that offenders are detected, apprehended, prosecuted and punished swiftly and transparently,” he said during the launch of the National Road Safety Action Plan 2024 -2028 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi.