The government will deregister all driving schools and register them afresh to curb road accidents, acting Interior CS Fred Matiang'i has said.
This comes after
17
people died in a grisly
road accident on Sunday at the Thika-Garissa highway near Kilimambogo area.
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"We need to know who is qualified. We are giving licences to murderous [people]. How is it that we don't
review their health
every year?" Matiang'i said.
Speaking in Nairobi on Tuesday, Matiangi said controlling the deaths on the roads must start with the driving schools.
"NTSA will provide a criteria and frameworks to guide the driving schools.
They shall have to be registered again," he said.
"When we start getting challenges on the road we start asking about the driving schools. We cannot continue with this madness."
Matiang'i said
the registration
process will be effective from
January to March 2018, adding that a team of seven is working on the frameworks.
"This cannot continue on our roads. Endless year in and year out stories of how we are managing ourselves on the road. It is time to act firmly," he said.
TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT SHAKEUP
The CS said the government is also reviewing the traffic police department to make sure
that it does its work properly.
"It's time to work fast and decisively. We are reviewing the entire department and it is ongoing," he said.
He added: "It is frustrating that
of the department went to court and came back with orders to stop this."
Matiang'i said courts should respect decisions made at the department.
"Who is serving whose interests here ... we cannot work like this.
Judiciary should also know that they live in this country," he said.
"You get an order saying that the officer should be reinstated, so then what do we do? We will look
at other ways of dealing with this issue."
He said the judges and magistrates also drive on the roads and can easily be killed by the people who they give court orders.
"Decisions taken by police must be respected [they should] not [be] telling us about the rights. And we are going to have a discussion with the Judiciary on this matter," he added.
The latest road accident brings to over 170 the number of people who have lost their lives through road carnage in the month of December.
The road safety authority put the death toll at 150 as at December 14.
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