Cultural revolution needed on road use

Scenario one: A traffic police officer flags down an overlapping matatu. The driver seems to ignore the order, but the officer stands his ground. The crew has to explain why they are flagrantly disobeying traffic laws and putting the lives of other road users in danger.

However, something interesting happens upon arrival at the police station. The officer receives a call from "above". Minutes later, the matatu is back on the road, its crew totally unfazed.

Scenario two: 'Mheshimiwa' gets onto a busy road in a large SUV, several escort cars in tow. Since he feels too important to be stuck in traffic with the rest of wananchi, his entourage swerves onto the wrong side of the road as if it is the natural thing to do.

Or they just overlap with impunity. In typical "kiss up, kick down" style, the traffic cops salute zealously as 'mheshimiwa' zooms by while ordinary motorists who attempt the same move are flagged down and forced to part with a bribe.

I could give many scenarios but anyone who has been on Kenyan roads knows that it is a jungle affair out there. The strong and the moneyed have their way. The not so strong complain but take no further action. Looking down the street from their ivory towers, the authorities seem either defeated or just plain indifferent.

Granted, there are many good traffic cops out there but they are badly outnumbered and some of them, unfortunately, give up the fight and 'fall in line' with their corrupt colleagues, not wanting to stir the hornet's nest for no gain.

Their case is not helped by the culture of silence among Kenyans, even where their own lives are in danger. Have you ever been in a dangerously driven matatu and all passengers were silent like sheep being led to the slaughterhouse?

Actually, what is more worrying is not so much the overtaking at blind spots, the brazen overlapping or the breakneck speed but the silence that greets such acts. It is this silence which emboldens matatu crew to act with impunity and traffic cops to keep collecting bribes instead of enforcing the rules.

It is no wonder that thousands of lives are unnecessarily lost on our roads every year. Children have had life snapped out of them by reckless motorists and college students have perished in nights of drunken driving. These lives, which could have turned out great, are reduced to mere memories of photo albums and pictures hang on walls.

The foregoing is symptomatic of everything that is wrong with Kenya. The day we sort out the painful impunity on the roads by matatus, other inconsiderate road users, strict enforcement of traffic laws, passive "silence of the lambs" situation of passengers is the day we shall kick out the malady that ails us.

The Traffic Police department long failed to enforce discipline on the road and the public responded by moving on, not expecting anything good to come from that institution.

The allure of free money has turned officers into prisoners of their own actions robbing them the moral authority to lead the war against road carnage.

Enter the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the hope of many Kenyans was rekindled. Finally there was a body which could be trusted to ensure road safety. They seemed energetic and determined to restore sanity on the roads.

But the passage of time has shown that we could all have been wrong. Not so much in NTSA's ability to get its work done but in expecting that anything could change without us changing first.

Not surprisingly, reports of bribe taking by NTSA officials have been flying around. Then there are kneejerk reactions and issuing of threats and directives which can't be implemented. The shine that NTSA had when it burst onto the scene has given way to doubt as it joins a long list of failed public institutions.

The last time Kenyans really felt safe on the roads was when the late John Michuki was Minister for Transport. Mr Michuki single handedly took on the matatu cartels and implemented far reaching changes that ensured safety and dignity in public transport. No amount of boycotts, lobbying or threats would break the will of the elderly public servant.

Sadly, Mr Michuki prematurely left the Ministry and the sector slowly slithered back to its old habits, reinforcing the fact that something deeper is required to end the madness on the roads.

How do we get out of this rut? In the short to medium term, the country needs a respected and dynamic leader at the helm of the infrastructure and transport ministry. The public service transport sector is run by powerful cartels and gangs who have no regard for life, rights or the rule of law.

Getting them to shape up or ship out will require a leader who is not ready to negotiate on the basics of human rights, the rule of law and gambling with the lives of Kenyans. Kenyans must hold their leaders to account, they must hold other road users to account and they must take responsibility by speaking out to ensure that their lives are respected and treated with dignity by the service providers.