Death Traps: No Lessons Learnt As Slaughter On Kenyan Roads Continues

The Fort Ternan accident that left 50 people dead on Wednesday has rekindled memories of some of the worst accidents on Kenyan roads.

In 2000, 105 people lost their lives in a horrific road accident involving an Akamba Bus and another bus christened Shaggy along the Nakuru-Kericho highway. The two buses burst into flames.

Fifty-seven people were admitted to hospital with injuries.

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In another accident in August 2013, Kenya was again thrown into mourning when a City to City Bus rolled, killing 43 people died at Ntulele market in Narok. Thirty-three people were injured.

In 2014, 15 people died after a matatu plunged into a ravine along the Nandi Hills-Chemelil road. The driver of the matatu lost control of the vehicle which overturned and rolled into the ravine.

The following year 26 people were killed when a bus collided head-on with a tanker along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway at Kambu.

In 2017, 17 lives were lost in a grisly road accident on the Thika-Garissa highway near Kilimambogo. A matatu that was travelling to Matuu from Thika crashed head-on with a lorry that was heading towards Thika near Makutano.

In the same year, 37 people perished near the Sachangwan blackspot in an accident involving 15 vehicles.

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Towards the end of that year, 30 people were killed in an accident on the Nakuru-Eldoret road.

In the accident that occurred at Migaa, about 10km from Salgaa, a bus collided head-on with a truck.

On December 13, a family in Vihiga was left mourning after nine relatives died in a road accident in Webuye.

They were among 19 people killed in an accident at Kamukuywa Bridge along the Webuye-Kitale road.

Available statistics show that up to 3,000 people die annually on Kenyan roads. This year may be one of the bloodiest as we head towards the festive season.

On Tuesday, Traffic Commandant Samuel Kimaru released statistics for the number people killed this year. In the report released in Narok, the statistics show 2,345 people have been killed since January, compared to 2,153 in the same period last year.

And the NTSA reported that 3,539 lives were lost between December 2016 and December 2017.

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However, the World Health Organization paints a different picture. Kenya is ranked among the countries with the poor road safety globally. It says in 2015, the annual death toll on Kenyan roads was at an average of 12,000.

The report put the death toll in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda at 29.1 per cent, 32.9 and 32.1, respectively. The number stood at 27.4 per cent in Uganda.

Many of these accidents are attributed to faulty vehicles and minimal or total lack of enforcement by authorities coupled with bribery.

The WHO report shows that no African country, except South Africa, meets any of the UN’s seven main vehicle safety standards.

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In the Fort Ternan accident, County Police Commandant James Mugera said 10 accident victims, who were injured, are admitted to Kericho County and Referal Hospital and five at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Hospital.

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett said the owner of the ill-fated bus is being sought.

He said the bus was not licensed to travel at night.

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