Makueni County Deputy Governor (DG) Lucy Milili has called upon the national government to expand the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway in order to ease congestion and avert frequent loss of lives through accidents.
Mulili specifically singled out a 5-kilometre steep, downhill section of the highway from Mlima Kiu between the Kima area and Salama town in Mukaa Sub County, which has remained a traffic blackspot, claiming numerous lives over the years due to frequent collisions involving heavy commercial trucks and passenger service vehicles.
The DG was addressing the media at Mlima Kiu, where 17 people perished on the spot early Saturday in a grisly road carnage involving a multiple of vehicles.
“This is not the first accident to happen here. There have been many accidents before, claiming lives of children, women and men, which has left families in untold pain,” lamented Mulili.
“I appeal to the national government through KeNHA to expand and make the entire 461-kilometre Nairobi-Mombasa highway a dual carriageway to ease congestion and minimize accidents that have led to wanton loss of lives,” she stated.
Earlier, the DG, accompanied by Makueni County Commissioner (CC) Khalif Abdullahi, said 6 of the accident victims, who sustained injuries, had been discharged from Sultan Hamud Sub County Hospital, while the driver of a trailer who suffered serious head injuries was transferred to Makueni County Referral Hospital for specialised treatment.
On his part, Abdullahi promised that the government will be engaging the relevant authorities, including KeNHA, to do an assessment of blackspots along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway in Makueni County, with a view to taking the necessary remedial measures to avert further loss of lives.
However, the CC urged motorists plying the route to shun drunkenness or any other form of intoxication from drugs while driving, saying such practices endangered the lives of pedestrians and travellers on the road.
At the same time, Abdullahi warned drivers against speeding and overtaking vehicles at bends, hills and junctions, saying they should at all times strive to observe the laid-down traffic laws and rules in order to ensure safety on our roads.
By Patrick Nyakundi
