The Kenya National Highways Authority has urged Kenyans to embrace use of electric vehicles and motorcycles to reduce carbon emission.
The Authority’s director general Eng Kung’u Ndung’u said electric vehicles are more viable and eco-friendly compared to petrol-powered vehicles.
He said the transition will enhance environmental conservation and create a greener future for the country.
Ndung'u spoke at Gacharage interchange along the Nairobi-Nyeri Highway during a tree planting exercise on Monday.
“We have witnessed the impacts of global warming including prolonged droughts and torrential rains in our country. It is high time citizens participated actively in the fight against climate change," he said.
Ndung'u said adoption of e-mobility will end the over-dependence on imported petroleum products, whose prices are on an upward trajectory.
“Fuel prices have gone up but electric vehicles provide a viable alternative that will not only help us create a greener future but also enhance convenience and efficiency,” he said.
KeNHA Board chair Winfrida Ngumi said the Authority is building electric vehicles charging and service stations to sustain e-mobility.
“Technology is here to stay and to change. We are cognisant as an Authority of the impact electric vehicles have on the environment," she said.
"We support e-mobility and we should be able to design and facilitate the use of electric vehicles on our roads."
Ngumi said the Authority last year surpassed its target and planted 120,000 trees.
This is in its bid to complement the government's target of 15 billion trees by 2032.
“Today we have planted about 13,000 trees, an exercise we have been undertaking on our corridors and regions. We will continue planting more trees on road reserves and on all lands along our major roads,” she said.
Kung’u said besides helping increase the country’s forest cover, the Authority is creating nature parks on interchanges along the major corridors in the country.
“The parks are important for the local communities because they get a place to take a rest and even engage in income-generating activities,” he said.
The adoption of electric vehicles is picking pace, recent figures from the National Transport and Safety Authority reveal an impressive 108 per cent increase in electric vehicle sales during the 2022-2023 financial year.
