Commentaries
Killer road that haunts Nyamira residents
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 18 November 2008 19:22
The matatu, which was being driven at a neck breaking speed, hit him and he died instantly,” a witness said. Ironically, Brian was neither the first nor will he be the last victim of what has now become to known as killer road and matatu madness in the town. Almost on daily basis, accident cases are reported on this road which was built less than five years ago The worst hit are school going children of Brian’s age and there is a unified public outcry that this must end.
The traffic police, the Ministry of Public Works, motorists, hawkers, vendors and pedestrians stand accused for the worrying trend. For instance, the police are accused of being preoccupied with collecting bribes from traffic offenders priority instead of executing their duties as per the law.
Investigations carried out by the Sunday Times reveal that many of the matatu drivers operating between Kisii and Nyamira have never been anywhere near a driving school and do not even possess valid driving licenses and other documentation. “I was a conductor before I trained to drive. I did not go to any driving school but I’m capable of driving,” one of them boasted. However, he confessed that acquiring a driving license was easy even without going through school.
In fact, in Brian’s incident, the driver was arraigned in court for driving without a licence and uniform among other charges. During the burial, advocates Andrew Mandi, Ben Momanyi and Stephen Mogaka accused the police of not acting tough to tame careless drivers. Mandi who was among those who witnessed the accident said the driver would have saved the child’s life if he was a qualified and professional driver.
The learned friends were headed on a collision course with the police because initially, the driver was not charged for causing the accident. “It beats logic when a driver kills and is fined a mere Sh15,000. We’ll move to court and ensure justice is done,” Momanyi told mourners.
However, a source at the traffic department said the driver was not initially charged for causing the accident because the vehicle had not been inspected. The advocates captured the mourners’ emotions and tore into the Government for not finishing the road, a scenario which had turned it into a killer monster. True to their worries, the entire Ngoina-Kebirigo-Kisii and Kisii-Nyamira-Senta roads do not have even a single slow bump or speed guidelines.
The Corner T (Konate) - Nyamira-Rangenyo stretch, with more than ten schools, has claimed several lives in the recent years. Recently, a vegetable seller was hit by a speeding car as she sat at her stall near Borabu Country Inn. Her life will never be the same again because one of her legs was severed following the accident.
Interviews indicate that locals who usually travel from Nyamira to Kisii tread the Nyaikuro- Nyabioto steep terrain road where the matatus ‘compensate’ by hitting over 130 Km/h. It is believed no matatu here has a speed governor whose maximum is 80 Km/h, thus endangering lives of road users in the area.
Asked recently what the traffic officers were doing to ensure vehicles comply with the laid down rules, local Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD), Lawrence Njoroge said they were cracking down on offenders and subjecting them to law. The police are also accused of tolerating saloon cars for public transport especially between Nyamira town and Miruka market. It is not strange to find such cars loaded with up to fourteen passengers, with some piled in the booth
