Judge lays law on speed governors

A directive by Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau that all commercial vehicles be fitted with specific speed governors has been overturned.

Mr Justice George Odunga of the High Court on Thursday said the December 2013 prescription of the brands rather than the standards was a departure from what was expected of Mr Kamau.

Despite being given ample time to regularise his actions, he did not take the opportunity, the judge said.

He said that the allegation of invalidity of the legal notice was based on the failure by the Cabinet secretary to table the new standards before Parliament.

“It follows that the speed limiters are unlawful,” the judge ruled.

Mr Kamau had said he had approved speed governors conforming to the Kenya Bureau of Standards specifications to be fitted in all public commercial service vehicles.

UNILATERAL AND ILLEGAL

Lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui, representing the Kenya Bus Services company, told the court that the notice by the Cabinet secretary “was unilateral, illegal and unconstitutional” and meant to harass public service vehicle owners.

National Transport and Safety Authority officers were unceremoniously stopping buses and confiscating their number plates as a result of the directive.

In a previous suit, Mr Kamau and the transport safety authority had argued that 85 per cent of road accidents in the country occurred at night mainly because of speeding.

“It was necessary to come up with regulations that would require speed control to enhancing safety on the roads and reduce fatalities,” the authority and Cabinet secretary had argued.

Mr Kamau also said the law required all public service vehicles to be fitted with a speed governor, whose specifications are laid out, and that the law has been in force for over 12 years.