The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has announced plans to introduce a nationwide crackdown on errant motorists ahead of the easter festivities.
Speaking in Mombasa on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, NTSA board chairperson Khatib Mwashetani cautioned against drunk-driving, noting that culprits will face the full force of the law.
“The chairman of NTSA Kenya will be launching a nationwide crackdown on unroadworthy vehicles, drunk drivers and irresponsible drivers who do not adhere to traffic rules starting tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, and throughout the Easter festivities,” Mwashetani noted in a statement.
“I urge all vehicle owners and drivers to ensure they fully comply with the rules to avoid the consequences and reduce accidents on our roads during this period,” he added.
Warns drunk drivers
“We want to ask Kenyans to be very vigilant. For those who know they are drunkards, let us not drink and drive. Also, for those who know their vehicles lack speed governors, you should ensure your vehicles have speed governors because the team we have here will go around in a crackdown.”
The newly appointed chairperson of the NTSA board urged vigilance in the wake of accidents happening along major roads in the country as a result of a surge in travel.
“Anyone found drinking and driving will not find themselves in a good situation. Let us be vigilant and drive while sober and adhere to the traffic rules,” he cautioned.
“With human and vehicular traffic expected to triple during this time, the need for a multi-sectoral enforcement approach is evident. To this end, we have resolved to deploy a special task force comprising the NTSA Coast Team, the Administration Police Service (APS), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Traffic Police, and County Enforcement Officers,” Mwashetani observed.
Surge in road carnage
The warning comes just a day after three people were killed in a grisly traffic accident along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway when a public service van and a lorry collided head-on, injuring scores of passengers who were trapped in the wreckage before help arrived.
This came just two weeks apart of another fatal accident, which claimed the lives of 12 people along the treacherous highway.
Just over a month ago, on March 8, 2025, another serious accident that claimed a life occurred along the same highway at Kinungi Soweto.
In a statement posted on X after the incident, St. John Ambulance Kenya reported that two people were injured and one person died after a pickup truck rammed into another truck at Kwa Makara, Kinungi, along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
This accident occurred less than 12 hours after another incident along the same route left 16 casualties.