Kenya’s transport safety officials are calling for road accidents to be declared a national emergency after a collision between a bus and a truck killed at least 24 people and injured 24 others on the Nairobi–Mombasa highway on Sunday. The bus was carrying passengers back to Mombasa after they attended the funeral of their church pastor in western Kenya. Authorities have attributed the crash to improper overtaking. Reverend Spencier Mdave, a passenger who survived the accident, said the truck attempted to overtake the bus but encountered oncoming traffic. The driver reportedly tried to abandon the manoeuvre before losing control. Mdave said passengers seated at the back of the bus suffered more serious injuries, while some seated in front sustained minor injuries.
The tragedy comes just three weeks after another crash on the same highway killed 17 people, many of them Catholic pilgrims, raising fresh concerns about road safety along the busy route connecting Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, to the port city of Mombasa. Transport safety officials say Kenya records about 20,000 road crashes annually, resulting in more than 5,000 deaths. They are urging stronger enforcement of traffic regulations and more effective measures to prevent further fatalities.
President William Ruto has expressed condolences to the victims’ families and ordered the inspection of all public service vehicles to ensure they meet safety requirements. He also urged motorists to exercise caution and obey traffic rules to protect lives. Speeding, dangerous overtaking and poor road conditions have previously been cited as contributing factors in road accidents in Kenya. The latest crash has renewed calls for urgent action to curb the country’s road deaths.
