His death will be a grim reminder to motorists and bus and matatu drivers that the festive season carries with it an atmosphere of unwarranted dread, even as families plan their transport schedules to share the Christmas cheer with loved ones.
And within hours of the death of Jirongo, eight passengers were killed, in the Kericho-Nyamira stretch, after a matatu collided with a truck.
Christmas should never be the time for recklessness and unnecessary loss of lives fuelled by heedless motorists and PSV drivers whose greed for quick cash blinds them to the dangers their behaviour pose both to themselves and other road users.
Driver-conduct on Kenyan roads have been ruined by years of corruption that bred a gung-ho attitude in which drivers believe they can break any law so long as they are in a position to bribe their way out.
The NTSA must make every effort possible to stamp their authority on the highways and painfully remind motorists and PSVs that foolish speeding is not an option now and any time of the year.
“We should all love our country and build our destiny on mutual love and help. The negligence of a few could easily send a ship to the bottom.”
Sardar Patel
Indian independence activist and statesman died on December 15, 1950
