President Uhuru Kenyatta’s move to have all National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) staff withdrawn from the roads has prompted the National Police Service to recall at least 100 officers that had been attached to the authority.
The officers have been sent on a 10 days leave until January 26 and have been asked to report to the service headquarters for redeployment.
Police commanders had raised concern over the fate of the officers whose duties hanged in the balance after the president’s directive to confine NTSA to office work. The Director of Personnel at Vigilance House, the Kenya Police Service nerve centre, Boniface Maingi asked the commanders to send the officers on leave.
Sources indicated once the officers leave is over, the officers will report to police headquarters for further directions.
Traffic Police personnel have been left as the lone operatives to ensure law enforcement and safety on roads as directed by President Kenyatta in a bid to curb road carnage.
Kenyans in the recent past blamed the NTSA staff for doing little to ensure road safety in a series of road crashes witnessed throughout the festive season. Hundreds have died in the last three months after being involved in road accidents that forced the government to impose a night travel ban on passenger service vehicles.
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“We have decided that all NTSA officers withdraw from the roads and leave traffic work to the police. We want to see if we can restore order on the roads,” said the President said.
The National Police Service deployed at least 200 of its officers to NTSA in July 2016 helping in law enforcement on major highways in the country.
The officers were charged with enforcing the NTSA Act and would impose instant fines on motorists found in violation of the law. This included conducting crackdowns on drunk drivers using Alcoblow gadgets.
