Players want inspection, weighbridge privatised

Transport stakeholders have renewed calls to have motor vehicle inspection and weighbridges privatised in order to unlock inefficiency.

At a press briefing convened to highlight war on corruption in the transport sector, Matatu Owners Association chairman Simon Kimutai yesterday maintained that the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) was too overwhelmed to play a regulatory and inspectorate role.

“It beats logic… regulators must be independent of what they regulate,” he said.

Kimutai lamented that the matatu industry lost Sh30 million daily to rogue traffic officers who had abdicated their roles and had “structured extortion” in the Kenyan transport system.

Losing millions

He said reasons that led to the industry losing millions of shillings to officers was non-compliance, extortion, fear of the court system and an engrained notion that one had to put money aside to bribe police. 

Kimutai was speaking as part of the Multisectoral Initiative Against Corruption MSIAC (Transport sub-sector) that was set up by the private sector last year to help President Uhuru Kenyatta in the war against corruption.

Others present included Federation of Public Transport Operators Chairman Edwins Mukabana and chairman Kenya Private Sector Alliance transport sector Auni Bhaiji.

Mr Bhaiji said weigh bridges should be privatised to ensure proper adherence to weight requirement.

“Inefficiencies across transport value chain ultimately contribute to heightened costs of business,” he said.

Mukabana sadly noted that little had changed in winning the war on corruption in the transport sector since the formation of MSIAC.

“The situation continues and in some places it has actually increased. We are looking at how we can work with Government to properly fight it,” he said.

Mukabana complained of the tussle between public transport operators and Government over the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT).