Matatu association blames corrupt NTSA officials for increased road accidents
Matatu Welfare Association is calling for the restructuring and reconstruction of the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) so as to curb the increased road carnage.
This, the association says, is a necessary move since most NTSA officials are now part of a cartel that includes police officers, which is involved in collecting bribes on the roads.
The association is also blaming the authority and driving schools for the premature recommendation and issuance of driving licences to trainees without completion of NTSA’s driving curriculum.
The matatu association further wants fines for traffic offences reviewed to end corruption on the road by defaulters as the current charges have become a cash cow.
Speaking to Nation, the association’s chairman Dickson Mbugua said NTSA had rolled out a 35 lesson plan curriculum to all driving schools to be undertaken within three months but that is not being implemented.
He claims that most schools are only teaching 18 lessons in an effort to enroll more trainees over a short period of time for commercial gains.
RECENT ACCIDENTS
“Most driving schools are in business purely for commercial gains. They only teach 18 lessons instead of the recommended 35. What happens to the other 17? Only AA does the whole curriculum, the rest are just out to make money,” said Mr Mbugua.
“The Acting Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i should fully invoke the drivers curriculum and enforce the NTSA guidelines instead of deregistering driving schools,” he added.
The curriculum developed by NTSA for trainees at driving schools includes the Highway Code, as well as learner’s handbooks for light and professional drivers, truck drivers and motorcycle riders.
The curriculum also covers theoretical learning, practical training and examinations.
NTSA has recently been put on the spot after some its officers were linked to atleast two road accidents that happened this month.
In the most recent accident that left three dead on Tuesday along Nairobi-Garissa Highway in Yatta, a witness claimed that NTSA officials stopped but allowed the vehicle to proceed with its journey even after establishing that it was overloaded.
NTSA officials were also blamed for the Sachangwan accident that left more than 32 dead on December 12.