While mourning the victims of the recent road accident, who include ex-Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo, Wetang’ula urged road users to act responsibly and save lives.
“I join fellow Kenyans in expressing deep concern over the rising road carnage claiming innocent lives. Late last night, ten people died along the Kisumu–Chabera Road, just hours after other accidents across the country had claimed nearly twenty lives,” Wetang'ula said in a statement.
The Speaker added, “My thoughts and prayers are with the affected families. During this busy holiday period, I urge all road users to act responsibly.”
Wetang’ula said drivers must ensure their vehicles are roadworthy and obey traffic rules, while passengers should report reckless conduct to help avert tragedy.
His statement follows Sunday night’s fatal accident along the Kisumu-Kisii highway, where 10 people died on the spot in an incident involving two trucks and a van.
Police say the truck driver who caused the accident fled from the scene, while the driver of the other truck survived the accident that claimed the driver of the Nissan matatu.
Most of the Chabera accident victims were members of the same family who were returning to their Rangenyo home, in Nyamira County, from a wedding ceremony in Kakamega.
Nyamira County Director of Medical Services Jared Oeba told the Star on Monday that six people were admitted at the County Referral Hospital with various injuries.
“We have six admitted, but four are stable and will be discharged today. One has a fracture and will undergo surgery, while another one (a woman) with back injuries will be admitted under monitoring for a few days,” Oeba said.
This was the second fatal accident involving members of the same families in Nyamira to be witnessed within a 24-hour span, with 8 other people having lost their lives on Saturday night at Ekerenyo along the Kisii-Kericho road.
They were travelling in a Quarser shuttle when the vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with a truck at Ri’Arani, which is between Ikonge and Ekerenyo centres along the Kisii-Kericho highway.
Nyamira governor announced the appointment of a committee to help the victims’ families with support to clear medical bills and burial expenses.
“We had a first meeting immediately and came up with a schedule for postmortem, which will be done today,” Oeba, who chairs the committee, said.
He added, “We will also give counselling services to the survivors and relatives of the deceased persons, who include a father who lost his wife and child, while two of his children were injured and are admitted in hospital.”
