NTSA outlines tougher road safety drive at UN amid rising pedestrian deaths

Jukwaa

📻 Breaking It Down

National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) Director-General Eng. Nashon Kondiwa made the commitment on Monday during the 2026 High-Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Improving Global Road Safety at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Held under the theme, “Scaling up and accelerating implementation of commitments to halving road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030,” the meeting adopted the Progress Declaration, which Kenya welcomed as a key milestone in advancing the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030.

Kondiwa said Kenya’s National Road Safety Action Plan is aligned with the global framework and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to implementing the declaration.

📌 What You Need to Know

Addressing the meeting, Kondiwa said Kenya continues to record between 4,000 and 5,000 road deaths and more than 20,000 injuries annually, describing road safety as one of the country’s foremost public health and development challenges.

“Road crashes are not only a transport issue, but an economic and social development issue,” Kondiwa said.

He said road traffic crashes cost Kenya an estimated five per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually through lost productivity, healthcare costs, emergency response, property damage and long-term disability.

The pledge coincides with intensified enforcement at home, with NTSA, the National Police Service (NPS) and Nairobi City County stepping up action against unsafe pedestrian behaviour.

On Tuesday, 22 pedestrians were arraigned after they were arrested for crossing Nairobi’s Thika Superhighway at Allsops instead of using a designated footbridge.

NTSA said the operation forms part of an ongoing nationwide campaign to improve pedestrian compliance with traffic laws through enforcement and public education.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya

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