Crackdown on speeding vehicles at Ntulele area leaves travelers stranded

By Kipchumba Kemei

NAROK, KENYA: Hundreds of travelers including students going back to schools for the third term were stranded when traffic police launched a crackdown on speeding and defective vehicles at Ntulele area along the Narok-Mai Mahiu road.

Tourists were also stranded for hours during the day long crackdown one kilometer from the scene of the last Thursday accident in which 44 people were killed in a bus that was traveling from Nairobi to Homabay.

Offenders were fined on the spot by a mobile court that was set by the road side. Those who failed to raise fines were briefly detained at Ntulele police station before being transferred to Narok where they were taken to the Government prison.

Narok senior magistrate Tampa Sitati presided over the roadside court while Chief Inspector Ali Kingi was the prosecutor. Defective vehicles were impounded and detained at the area police station.

The police move forced owners of public service vehicles to hide them, inconveniencing travelers, some who were returning to their stations after a weekend break.

There was scuffle at Narok Bus Station earlier in the day when travelers from Kisii roughed up a driver and the crew of a bus demanding to be refunded fares after they were informed that they could not continue with their journey to Nairobi because the bus was not compliant.

Motorists and passengers complained that the timing of the massive crackdown was wrong and demanded that it should have been rescheduled until after schools and other learning institutions open for the final term this year.

Former Transport Licensing Board (TLB) chairman Hassan Kamwaro welcomed the move but termed it as belated after a series of accidents along the road in which lives were lost. About 50 people were last month killed in accidents along the road.

“The crackdown should be an all round exercise. It should not be carried out whenever accidents happen. The Government should be bold and reintroduce the stringent rules that were popularly known as the Michuki rules to curb further accidents,” said Kamwaro.

The area police boss Peterson Maelo who supervised the crackdown said most public vehicles that were netted lacked safety gadgets like speed governors and safety belts.

“Ninety five per cent of the vehicles had no safety gadgets. Private motorists were found guilty of speeding,” said Maelo who added that there would be random crackdown in future until owners of public service vehicles and private ones comply with traffic regulations