Schools urged to employ qualified drivers to ensure students’ safety

Secondary schools should employ qualified drivers to avoid accidents which have been claiming the lives of students, a director of Tana Water Services Board, Mr Mureithi Kang'ara, has said.

According to Mr Kang'ara, schools should recruit experienced drivers from recognised driving schools in order to ensure the safety of students.

"Schools do not vet drivers before they employ them to [drive] buses and that is why students are dying in accidents," he said.

While sending a message of condolences to the families that lost their loved ones when a school bus overturned in Kisii, Mr Kang'ara said it was sad that students had perished in an accident which could have been avoided.

Speaking to the Nation by phone on Sunday from Kerugoya Town, Mr Kang'ara said he learnt of the deaths of the four students with deep sorrow.

"I was really shocked when I heard the sad news," he said.

Mr Kang'ara said the driver of the bus should be arrested and charged with causing death by careless driving.

"The driver committed a very serious traffic offence and he should not be spared," he said.

Mr Kang'ara said the school’s board of management that allowed the driver to operate the vehicle, yet his driving licence did not authorise him to drive a bus, should be investigated.

He also said the management should be forced to meet burial expenses for the students who died in the accident that left people in shock.