Uasin Gishu County government is among the eight devolved units in the western part of Kenya that the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) is seeking collaboration with, through established County Transport and Safety Committees, to address road safety challenges in the country.
Speaking on Wednesday during a three-day induction training held at the Eldoret Polytechnic, the Director of Road Safety from NTSA Dr Andrew Kiplagat said the objective of the countrywide initiative include integration of road safety measures into all the 47 county governments development plans, strengthening road safety legislation at the county level and enhancing accessibility for residents.
The theme of the induction training was “Strengthening County Road Safety: Collaboration Strategies for Safe Roads and Mobility.”
This initiative is in line with the county administration’s development agenda on infrastructure development, which endeavours to upgrade and maintain all road networks within the County to all-weather standards.
Further, it seeks to devolve road maintenance to ward and Sub County level to ensure safe roads for users besides improved mobility that uplifts local communities economically.
“Last year we unfortunately lost 4748 people through road crashes. These accidents are preventable and those people didn’t deserve to die in that manner. That makes this collaboration very important to avert the situation. About 73% of that number is made of pedestrians, motorcyclists and motorcycle passengers,” he stated.
He added that the road crash problems need local strategies to address, especially by the devolved units who NTSA consider as key players in helping reduce loss of lives in the roads.
Uasin Gishu County Executive for Roads Engineer Joseph Lagat said the delegations from West Pokot, Vihiga, Nandi, Elgeyo Marakwet, Bungoma, Kakamega, Busia and Uasin Gishu Counties need to be trained on establishment of key road structures such as footpaths separate from carriage ways, road designs as better interventions, and working with other stakeholders to bring down the fatalities
His counterparts from neighbouring counties, led by Emmy Kosgey (CECM Roads Elgeyo Marakwet), echoed his sentiments, emphasizing the need for sensitization and capacity building of the people and coming up with strategies to avert road crashes, with the main challenge being the Boda boda sector for many counties.
By Ekuwam Sylvester
