Kenya : All Public Service Vehicle Drives To Undergo Mandatory Test From June

By Samuel Ouma [caption id="attachment_105867" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Kipchumba Murkomen[/caption] The government of Kenya through the Ministry of Transport has announced mandatory tests for all Public Service Vehicle (PSV) drivers effective June 2023. Kipchumba Murkomen, the Transport Cabinet Secretary, stated that a new test will be administered to any PSV driver whose license has expired. "From June 1 2023, all PSV drivers and commercial vehicle drivers, upon expiry of their licenses, will be subjected to a mandatory driver retest before renewal of the driving licenses," said Murkomen. All drivers will also be subjected to a competent medical practitioner's obligatory medical fitness test. Murkomen further stated that from April 25, 2023, to May 31, 2023, a multi-agency clinic will be formed to verify and confirm all speed limiters. “All stakeholders including public transport operators, speed limiter vendors, and the National Police Service will be incorporated into this multi-agency exercise,” added Murkomen. Furthermore, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), the Kenya Urban Road Authority (KURA), and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) have been directed to work quickly to complete ongoing road safety audits on all blackspots and ensure safety interventions, such as signage, reflectors, and street lighting, within the next month. Simultaneously, Murkomen stated that all infrastructure surrounding schools should be reviewed and designated as school zones with the required road furniture for the safety of schoolchildren within six months. He also banned night travel for school buses. "School transportation shall not be allowed to operate between 10 pm and 5am in line with the Traffic (Amendment) Act, 2017, effective immediately," he said. He also ordered that all schoolchildren be assigned seats with functional seatbelts on at all times and that unroadworthy school vans and buses be removed from the roads immediately. These measures are in response to an increase in road accidents in the country, with school-aged children accounting for a portion of the fatalities. According to the National Transport and Safety Authority, 1,072 people died in road accidents in Kenya between January and March 2023.