The government has blacklisted illegal Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) from operating on Kenyan roads with immediate effect.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has issued a stern warning that illegal PSVs including vehicles like Noah, Probox, and Voxies among others will be impounded and their owners and operators charged per traffic regulations.
In a bid to curb the surge in road accidents in the country, Murkomen has also directed all school buses to undergo inspection by May 1, 2024.
“It will help to assess their mechanical soundness and whether speed limiters installed on them are functional,” the statement highlighted.
The exercise will be conducted by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
No PSVs will be issued with short-term licenses going forward. Similarly, the Authority is required to immediately cease issuance of new PSV operator routes, pending vetting.
The new directives are informed by what the CS says is a surge of accidents this year compared to last year, the same period (i.e. January to April).
Murkomen also mandated that all commercial and PSVs have speed limiters installed to prevent accidents and protect lives, promising punitive action against offenders.
He said that the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) Intelligent Road Safety Management System (IRSMS) will onboard the speed limiters for effective monitoring of the drivers’ speed.
“To prevent accidents and protect lives, we hereby issue a further directive for immediate compliance with KS 2295 – 2018 on maximum road speed limiters for motor vehicles to ensure speed limiters fitted on PSVs and commercial vehicles are functional, limiting speed, storing data, transmitting speed data every five seconds and onboarded onto the NTSA Intelligent Road Safety Management System ( IRSMS),” the CS said flanked by NTSA and traffic enforcement teams led by Police Inspector General Japhet Koome.