Memorial held for 13 people killed in road accident

CAPTION: The wreckage of the matatu involved in an accident in Machakos in which 13 people, among them five members of one family, died on April 5.

Hundreds of mourners gathered at Kangundo AIC Primary School grounds Saturday for a funeral service in memory of the 13 people who perished in a road accident at Isuvuni bridge on the Masii-Tawa road last week.

Those who spoke at the memorial service blamed traffic police officers in Machakos County for taking bribes instead of enforcing traffic rules.

Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua said that although most matatus in the county were always overloaded and some were unroadworthy, traffic police officers don’t bother to check and only opt to take bribes from them instead of arresting and charging them in court.

“Traffic police on duty pay little attention to overloaded or unroadworthy vehicles but go for bribes from the drivers,” he said.

Dr Mutua said those who perished in the accident died because of the laxity of the traffic police officers as they should have removed that matatu from the road a long time ago.

He called on the county police commander and the county commissioner to take tough action against traffic police officers who fail to enforce traffic rules.

Meanwhile, the matatu sacco whose vehicle was involved in the deadly accident has been banned from operating its fleet of 78 vehicles.

The sacco’s vehicles were ordered taken to the vehicle-inspection unit for mandatory inspection, which is supposed to determine, among other things, the suitability of the speed governors fitted in the vehicles as well as their mechanical condition.

NATURE OF THE ROAD BLAMED

Makata Sacco is one of the leading saccos in the Lower Eastern region, and the ban on its fleet has inconvenienced scores of people plying the Kangundo-Tala-Nairobi and Machakos routes where it is licensed to operate.

While admitting that not all of their vehicles had complied with the tough new rules, Makata chairman Duncan Mbithi said at least 30 of the 78 vehicles had met the requirements.

“The ban is hurting not only our staff but the public as well. I think the government should have found out by now whether or not the matatu that was involved in the accident had complied,” said Mr Mbithi.

Mr Mbithi said the nature of the Masii-Tawa road contributed in large part to the accident and not the vehicle’s condition.

Mwala OCPD Joseph Kiragu said the stretch of road between Masii and Tawa has numerous bends that makes navigation tricky.

He suggested that speed bumps be erected on the stretch to minimise accidents.

“Hardly a month passes without an accident happening on two sections of the road - the Isuvuni bridge, where the latest accident occurred, and the Thwake river bridge, which is about a 100 metres apart,” said Mr Kiragu.

Soon after the accident, the National Transport and Safety Authority took issue with the Makata Sacco, saying the vehicle was not only speeding at the time of the accident, but was overloaded and was not fitted with a speed governor.