Traffic police will not be withdrawn from city roads

Traffic snarl-up on a busy road in the city. [PHOTOS: FILE]

Nairobi, Kenya: Traffic personnel will remain on major junctions in Nairobi to control the flow of vehicles despite a request by County Government that they withdraw.

The County Government had asked that the personnel be withdrawn to leave traffic lights and marshals to control the flow of vehicles into and out of the city.

But a test on the usage of the lights on Friday caused a major traffic jam prompting the redeployment of traffic personnel.

Nairobi head of traffic Edward Mwamburi confirmed his officers had been withdrawn to allow a test to be carried out on how effective the traffic lights can be.

Mwamburi said they decided to have the officers back after it became clear that some junctions could not cope with the situation.

“It is still our mandate to control traffic and that is why we decided to work with the County Government to ensure residents and visitors reach their destinations in time,” said Mwamburi.

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The decision to redeploy the personnel was reached in a meeting between council officials and police. It emerged that the control centre for the traffic lights was not ready for use.

This was after police said that some routes had more vehicles than others and leaving the lights to control the flow will affect the general traffic.

The officers had been withdrawn from major junctions where there are traffic lights leaving them to control the flow of motor vehicles.

This created a major build up on some roads making it impossible for the lights to unlock the gridlock.

“We will be happy to work elsewhere as there are many other traffic matters to be handled,” said Mwamburi and this can only happen when the technology being used is fully operational.

He denied claims that his officers were on a go-slow clarifying that they do not have such a thing in the service.

County traffic marshals were left on some streets especially feeder roads in the CBD to control the flow of vehicles.

The pile up affected Uhuru Highway, Mombasa Road, Waiyaki Way, Thika Road, Langata Road, Ngong Road, Jogoo Road and other adjacent roads.

Governor Evans Kidero said they are testing the usage of the lights.

“That is where every developing world is headed and we are there to help city residents move to their destinations comfortably,” he said.

The county government has been installing traffic lights on major roads to help in controlling the flow of cars.