Tens of motorists nabbed during a major crackdown along Nairobi-Nakuru highway

By Antony Gitonga  

Tens of motorists and passengers were nabbed during a major crackdown by traffic officers along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.

The operation saw those arrested for flouting various traffic rules arraigned in a mobile court headed by Naivasha Resident magistrate Electa Riany.

Those unable to raise fines were escorted to Naivasha GK Prison during the exercise headed by Rift Valley Provincial traffic officer Mary Omari.

The operation incidentally came as the country continued to experience an upsurge in cases of road accidents with tens of people loosing their lives.

During the crackdown, public vehicles pulled off the road for fear of arrest leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in major bus terminus in Naivasha and Gilgil.

Taxi drivers and motorcycle operators did a roaring job as they moved in to take the vacuum created by the fleeing public service vehicles.

Addressing the press, Omari denied that the exercise was being carried out due to the recent fatal accidents in parts of the country.

The traffic boss said that this was the second phase of the mobile courts project which was meant to reign sanity on the roads.

"We have raised Sh419,000 from fines and managed to nab 41 vehicles 16 of whom were speeding or had tampered with the speed governor," she said.

She added that the impromptu operation would go on across the country and called on vehicle owners and drivers to co-operate.

Tens of passengers who were stranded on the scene of the operation complained bitterly over the slow process the exercise was taking.

According to one Jennifer Nafula, the operation had inconvenienced her as she had an appointment in Nairobi at 11am.

She said that more officers should have been assigned for the exercise noting that the current ones could not handle the high number of vehicles.

"We have been waiting on this slot for over three hours as the few officers inspect all the vehicles stopped by the police officers," she said.

In the last couple of weeks the country has lost close to 100 people to road accidents with the latest incident on Sunday along Mombasa road where seven people lost their lives.

The worst accident was in Ntulele along the Narok-Mai Mahiu road where 40 people perished after a bus they were traveling in was involved in an accident.