By RAWLINGS OTIENO

KENYA: Bus operators have vowed to fight gazetted regulations banning Public Service Vehicles night travel, saying the ban is not the solution to road carnage.

Kenya Country Buses Owners’ Association chairman Paul Muthumbi says they will move to court to challenge the night ban orders gazetted by National Transport and Safety Authority.

The safety authority recently gazetted Statutory Instrument 173 legal notice 290 that banned night travel by buses and other PSV vehicles so as to curb the rising incidents of road carnage.

The directive was later spelt out by Transport Principal Secretary Nduva Muli, saying only public transport vehicles with 24-hour operating licences will be allowed to ferry passengers at night. 

He warned that any company found operating buses at night against the new law will be fined Sh50,000 while drivers risk a jail term not exceeding one year or both.

Negotiations

However, KCBOA is challenging this assertion saying the changes will lead to the collapse of the sector.

Muthumbi is urging the government to reconsider the ban and initiate negotiations with the industry’s players as the ban is likely to stifle the sector.

He said the transport industry currently employs approximately 150,000 people.

“The KCBOA confirms that its more than 200 members support initiatives which are intended to improve road safety. However, it does not believe that the proposals for the night banning of PSV as currently set out would be as beneficial as suggested and that this would very likely cause serious unintended repercussions in other sectors of the economy,” he said.

Mr Muthumbi said they have requested for dialogue with the government which he accuses of making the decision to ban night travel without consulting other stakeholders.

Temporary licences

“The demise of the PSV night time drive fleet means that Kenya’s transport capacity will be severely constrained. This ban came at a time when many passengers had already booked for night time travel, jeopardising even other business people engaged in distant markets thus rendering the country’s exports uncompetitive and creating a huge transport liability for Kenya,” he said.

Mr Muthumbi said the status of their licences is not clear because the government is offering temporary licences.

He suggested that they should be allowed to continue operating so as to reduce the pressure on daytime travel adding that the ban had resulted in serious implications for PSV business.

The bus operators leader said issues on road transport must be reached at after consultations with all stakeholders.

However, NTSA had in late December indicated that night travel by PSV was effected because buses that operate at night have been blamed for causing road accidents.