Murkomen Orders Mandatory Installation Of Dashboard Cameras In All Matatus

Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen on Tuesday, July 4 directed the mandatory installation of dashboard cameras across all Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) as well as school buses and vans.

The CS was speaking in Kericho County during interdenominational prayers in Londiani town for the victims of the Londiani road accident.

As part of a series of regulations he revealed to curb the rise in road accidents, Murkomen also directed all vehicles to be retrofitted with vehicle telematics.

"Telematics will have a GPS system showing where a vehicle will be at any particular time, it will have a black box recorder that will be transmitting the speed of every vehicle at every time. 

"It will show the location of every vehicle and show when and who maintained the vehicle. It will show where the vehicle was serviced and who serviced the vehicle," he stated.

In addition, Murkomen directed that the dashboard cameras should be linked to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) site and the service should be made available for access by all government ministries at the touch of a button where the vehicle will be, with the cameras fitted at the front as well as the back.

"All the Saccos must be enrolled in the application so that when you carry a child heading to Nairobi, the application can show where it is at any given time and the speed at which it is going, as well as details of the driver," he stated. 

The cameras, Murkomen alluded, would not exceed Ksh30,000, which saccos can easily spend to acquire them as a life-saving measure.

"If you will spend Ksh30,000 and below to fit this equipment, let it be, we will save many lives," Murkomen asserted. 

Murkomen further noted that the Transport Ministry would provide access to markets that will be a few distances away from the road, revealing that he had reached out to the Kericho Governor (Erick Mutai) with a view of relocating the markets to a safe distance from the road.

"KeNHA will make sure there is a drive-through road so that those who don't want to exit their cars will slow, drive through and buy goods from the market and drive to the other end before joining the highway to leave," he added, assuring that the directive would be implemented in six months.

The Transport CS reiterated that all PSVs will undergo mandatory inspection and review the frequency of inspection of the vehicles, referring to the Londiani accident whereby the ill-fated trailer had inspection issues in Rwanda but still managed to gain entry into the country.

"I will have a meeting with my counterpart in Rwanda to find a way to harmonise East Africa Community (EAC) inspection and driver licensing standards so that this applies to all roads in the region," he assured.

He added that the government was finalising the process of completing the evaluation of the tender that would be used to fit speed cameras along the roads.

"Before the end of this year, a number of spots will have speed cameras as well as punitive measures (instant fines) put in place. Once a motorist is caught, an instant message is sent to your phone to pay the fine. We will revoke the licences of repeat offenders," he added. 

Prior to these directives, the country witnessed a series of road accidents mainly involving school buses and vans as well as matatus.

On Friday, June 30, a truck rammed into several matatus after it lost control and ploughed into a nearby market in Londiani, claiming the lives of 52 people and leaving 32 injured.