NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 14 – Road safety featured greatly in this year’s ‘Men’s Conference’, a parallel event marked in the country every year to counter the Valentine’s Day celebration.
During the event held at Nairobi’s Green Park Terminus, which focused on the bodaboda sector, it was revealed that the majority of victims of road accidents are men operating in the bodaboda sector.
A representative from the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) stated that alarming statistics, indicating that a significant portion of road accident fatalities consist of young men employed in the bodaboda sector.
“The bodaboda sector is integral to our economy, but the toll of traffic accidents on our youth is staggering. In the past year alone, we lost 4,430 lives, with 1,000 fatalities stemming from the bodaboda industry, in addition to numerous injuries,” stated NTSA Road Safety Manager, Samuel Musumba.
In the last month alone, 140 motorcyclists have lost their lives as a result of road accidents, according to the latest statistics released by NTSA.
Data released on February 11, also indicates that 54 pillion passengers also died from road accidents over the same period.
Musumba said that moving forward, NTSA will work with other stakeholders across the counties to sensitize the public on road safety, with a special focus on bodaboda riders.
The Chairman of the Men’s Conference, journalist Stephen Letoo, underscored that the initiative seeks to prevent further loss of life among men while fending for their families on the road.
“We cannot afford to lose more men on the road just because they are not well secured because of safety kits. We are flagging off this campaign here in Nairobi, and we will extend similar efforts to Bomet before proceeding to Nakuru,” he said.
He disclosed that the road safety initiative has already been rolled out in 20 counties and will run throughout the year across all 47 counties.
Further, Letoo, explained that the decision to prioritize road safety was brought about by the realization that the majority of the road accident victims over the last year were men.
“We realized that since we held last year’s men’s conference, which focused on mental health, we have lost a lot of men on the road; hence, this initiative was timely and much needed for our hardworking men,” he added.