Deadly Kenya crash renews calls to widen Nairobi-Mombasa highway
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Kenyans
The Motorists Association of Kenya is calling for heavy goods vehicles and buses to be separated and the Nairobi-Mombasa highway expanded to four lanes after a head-on collision killed 22 people on 25 October. It accuses public bodies and police of corruption and allowing dangerous vehicles on the road, according to Kenyans.
The Motorists Association of Kenya (MAK) on Sunday 25 October called on the government to expedite the upgrading of the Nairobi-Mombasa highway to a dual carriageway, after a collision between a bus and a lorry killed 22 people. It also called for heavy goods vehicles to be separated from long-distance buses, according to Kenyans.
MAK accused the Ministry of Roads and Transport, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), the National Construction Authority (NCA) and the police of corruption, poor-quality roadworks and allowing poorly maintained vehicles on the roads. It called for more freight to be transported by the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), particularly on the Mombasa-Naivasha section, which is already operational.
The association said the road was built in 1901 and criticised delays in widening it. The 25 October collision near Mtito Andei followed another fatal crash on the route, which killed 17 people on 4 October. It also comes after the collision between a bus and a lorry near Mtito Andei, reported the same day.
