A day before Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators in Kenya are scheduled to go on strike, the government has announced the postponement of retesting of all PSV drivers.

Following engagement with stakeholders including representatives of PSV operators, the government has announced on Tuesday, July 11 that the retesting exercise had been postponed to September 1st, 2023.

“I hereby halt the retesting of drivers until September 1, 2023 to give the multi-agency committee time to address the rising concerns,” Murkomen wrote in a statement.

The ministry and stakeholders also agreed on the formation of a multi-agency committee to review grievances raised by drivers and conductors. Names of officials representing various industry players are to be presented by August 1, 2023. The committee will have 14 days to develop a report which will be reviewed by the ministry for “further decision-making”.

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The ministry stated that 1,847 drivers had been retested since the start of the exercise on June 9.

The retesting was among measures announced by Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen as part of efforts to curb road accident deaths, following the Londiani accident that killed 52 in June in Kericho county.

Other plans that had been announced following by Murkomen following the accident included efforts to evict traders from highways and to have all PSVs fitted with dash cams and GPS trackers, in a bid to curb road accidents.

“We have decided as a ministry that we will issue new regulations. We want all commercial, PSV vehicles and school buses to be fitted with dashboard cameras and visual telematics,” Murkomen stated at a memorial service for the victims.

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