TRANSPORT-KENYA: Safety Regulations Still on the Right Track?

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Joyce Mulama

NAIROBI, Feb 13 2006 (IPS) - In 2004, the Kenyan government introduced new traffic regulations to improve safety in the transport sector. Two years down the line, however, a commuters’ association claims that violation of traffic rules is still disturbingly widespread.

Minibus taxis called “matatus” which are privately-owned provide the principal means of getting around in Kenya.

But, before the new laws were laid down there was little control exercised over the matatu sector: taxis drove at high speed, often exceeding 120 kilometres per hour, and carried too many passengers. It was not unusual to find 22 passengers in a 14-seater vehicle, while a 25-seater might carry upwards of 50 passengers.

The February 2004 regulations required vehicles used for transporting the public to be fitted with devices that ensured that they did not go beyond the speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour. Seating capacity was to be observed, and safety belts installed.

In addition, matatu touts and drivers were required to start wearing uniforms, and badges giving their names and the routes they intended taking.

The new rules seemed to prove effective for a few months. But the Kenya Commuters Welfare Association believes it is now back to business as usual.

“There was improvement only in the first two or three months, then the situation started going down; now we are where we were at first,” Mwangi Wakibi, chairman of the association, told IPS.

“You find matatus being overloaded at certain times, especially at night, and it is not unusual to see the drivers and touts without uniforms. There is speeding. What happened to the speed governors?”

Wakibi blames government for this state of affairs, notably the traffic police – and officials do agree that the new regulations have not been an unqualified success.

“Despite the strict move by the government, there is still some defiance. But we are dealing with those who violate the rules,” Hassan Ole Kamwaro, chairman of the Transport Licensing Board (TLB), told IPS. “We have impounded vehicles and taken the violators to court.”

The TLB is charged with regulating the transport sector. According to Kamwaro, it has revoked the licenses of over 15 matatus in the past year (there are approximately 40,000 of the taxis in operation at the moment). Most offenders are fined.

Kamwaro also argues that road safety has improved. Before the introduction of the new rules, he says, road accidents were responsible for 3,000 deaths annually, compared to 2,000 at present.

Additional measures are now on the cards to improve the transport industry.

Recently, Assistant Transport Minister Njeru Githae announced a plan to phase out 14-seater matatus in favour of 25-seaters to help ease congestion on the roads – a proposal that has not been favourably received by all.

The Matatu Welfare Organisation (MWA), a body that lobbies for minibus taxi operators, says it is bound to cause a crisis in the industry, as just over 10,000 of the approximately 40,000 matatus on the roads are 25-seaters. The remainder are 14-seaters.

Wakibi is also apprehensive.

“The intended government plan will result in a shortage of matatus, affecting the commuter, just as the transport crisis experienced in 2004,” he says, in reference to the strike staged by matatu operators after the introduction of the safety regulations two years ago. At the time, operators claimed that the new legal requirements would be too expensive to implement.

For weeks, thousands had to walk long distances to and from school or work. The few vehicles which immediately complied with the rules hiked fares, forcing commuters to pay up to three times more for transport than had previously been the case.

According to Wakibi, fare hikes are still occurring: “There is absolutely no control. Matatus hike the fares how and when they please, and it is the layman who is always affected.”

The MWA claims that the plan to phase-out the 14-seater vans will also leave thousands without jobs.

“This is going to have a negative effect on employment. A bigger percentage of our drivers and touts will lose their jobs,” says Dickson Mbugua, chairman of the MWA.

“These people have others who depend on them,” he adds.

Matatu operators are now petitioning the government to reconsider the policy.