NTSA is not deregistering driving schools, says Meja

The transport authority has clarified that it is not out to de-register driving schools even as police plan a crack down on non-compliant institutions.

A senior assistant to the Inspector General of Police, Julius Kanampiu, on Monday said a notice to all driving schools to submit their licenses for validation was not meant to shut them down but to weed out rogue ones.

He, however, warned a crackdown on non complying driving schools will start as soon as the notice expires.

“I caution driving schools to comply with the notice because we plan to start a crackdown on those who will not have complied once the notice expires,” said Kanampiu.

On April 30, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) issued a notice with a 14-day ultimatum to all driving schools to submit afresh their licenses for validation.

The notice expires on May 14.

Minimum requirements

In the notice, NTSA said that the exercise is meant to weed out driving schools operating without the minimum requirements.

According to NTSA’s Director General Francis Meja, the agency had traced some of the biggest challenges in road safety to the kind of training motorists receive.

“We are not de-registering driving schools. We just want to validate their documents so that they comply with the law,” said Meja.

Meja, who was speaking during the launch of the United Nations Global Week on Road Safety, said the authority decided to address the issue of road carnage from the basics.

“If drivers are not properly trained, then we shall have a problem. There are reforms coming your way and they are meant to address these gaps,” said Meja.

One of the stipulations in the notice is that all driving schools with several branches should have them submit their validation papers as individual entities.