NTSA to move to Interior ministry in new state initiative

A National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) official inspects a vehicle for compliance at the Vehicles Inspection Centre at Likoni Road in Nairobi. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Plans are at an advanced stage to move the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to the Ministry of Interior.

NTSA is currently under the Ministry of Transport.

Government officials said the transfer of the authority to the Interior ministry would enhance operations and facilitate smooth coordination of services.

Legal experts in the ministry and outside are working on the various regulations that will inform the move.

“The main actors of the authority are in the Interior ministry. Be it police who enforce the law, prison staff who make number plates and general regulation of the road safety is mainly in Interior,” said an official.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to sign Executive Order 2 to actualise the restructuring of the authority and other agencies.

This is the latest in a series of actions that are aimed at ensuring road safety is given priority.

Delayed report

It is expected that the announcement will be made when the Government makes public the operationalisation of the instant fine policy.

A task force formed to come up with the best framework for implementing the new rules has delayed despite being given a month to hand in its report.

It was established in September by Interior Cabinet Sectary Fred Matiang'i, his ICT colleague Joe Mucheru, and Transport’s James Macharia.

It is headed by Transport Principal Secretary Esther Koimett, and is supposed to come up with rules to be followed in paying the fines.

“The task force will lead consultations with the Judiciary, NTSA, and the offices of the Attorney General and Solicitor General to see that the new regulations take effect as planned,” the Ministry of Interior said in September.

Officials argued that the rules made economic sense since most of the traffic offenders held in remand ended up paying fines less than the amount the Government spent to sustain them.

In January, at least 100 police officers who had been attached to the traffic department were recalled to police headquarters, leaving NTSA on its own to regulate road transport.