Author Reference
Lango, B. (2016). Christmas Bell Rings
for Speed-Gun Checkpoints on Kenyan Roads. Intel Fire Group of Companies Blog. Nairobi, Kenya. October
02, 2016.
In the recent year the new road
traffic regulator, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA),
introduced the use of speed guns on Kenyan roads to the chagrin of most Kenyan
drivers and more so the private car owners and by extension the high-end
private ones. Well, now is another Christmas time and probably one of the best times
to work as a speed gun operator and with eyes set on those travelling massively
during this Christmas season. Those roads that have been ignored by these guns
due to low traffic can now have at least one assigned and those manning the
point will certainly have a good “report”
at the end of the day. The Christmas
bell will certainly be ringing several times at these checkpoints not because
the speed gun operators are selfish and hell-bent on charging every motorist
but because the motorist themselves have not embraced the road traffic rules
that are related to speed check. Take for example, why would a typical Kenyan
maintain a speed of 30KPH (Kilometer Per Hour) on a Tanzanian road and fails to
maintain a speed of 100KPH on Kenyan road? This can be difficult to explain in
simple writing but to sum it all, it boils down to a system eroded with high
handedness and the above-the-law attitude among the leaders who should be
showing good example.
The speed-guns have been extensively
used in Kenyan roads with the only Superhighway in Kenya named Thika
Superhighway leading the park of usage. Drivers along this road would tell you
that despite the officers being on this road several times in a week they would
always have culprits in big numbers and majority being repeat offenders. To the
public, the officers executing the speed-limit system within the road are just
a bunch of extortionists in uniform syphoning money from innocent motorists and
more so the private car owners as the public ones are never stopped. The
problem however lies with the Kenyan drivers who in most instances are very
impatient group of individuals. A Kenyan driver would rather have the vehicle “fly” without wings not that there is an
emergency but that there is an urge that the car needs to move fast. The
passengers and those given lifts by these vehicle and car owners also
appreciate a good car through the kind of speed it can zoom. The more speed the
car zooms the better the car and its owner. The public service transport in
particular have a tendency of over speeding to make more trips and especially
during the Christmas break as “wateja”
(passengers) will be stranded but in real sense to make more money.
Therefore folks take lead this
Christmas season and ensure the bells do not ring at any of the speed-gun
points along any of the Kenyan roads. Remember CHRISTMAS IS A SEASON OF RINGING
BELLS BUT THIS IS ONE PLACE THESE BELLS SHOULD NEVER RING.
The writer is a PhD Generalist in
Service Delivery and Project Management.
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