KENYA TIMES

Writer unfair to Transport minister

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

MY attention has been drawn to accusations directed at the minister for Transport Chirau Ali Mwakwere by one David Huba headlined “Mwakwere has failed Kenyans” - in your Letter to the Editor’s column on Friday 25 July. The issues Huba raised cannot go unchallenged.
Firstly, Huba has written about his friend’s tribulations in UK while seeking to hire a car. According to the writer, his friend was denied authority to drive a car in Britain for the reason that a Kenyan driving licence in his possession is not recognised in the UK. As the rental girl put it, the document can not be honoured across Europe.

It is true that Kenya is yet to sign the United Nations Road Traffic Convention on International Driving Permits that would allow her citizens with national driving licences to automatically self-drive while abroad. However, the process to ensure this is achieved has started, and a Cabinet Memo is in the Attorney General’s Office for final preparation and forwarding to the Cabinet for approval.

However, this has not stopped thousands of Kenyans from residing abroad and acquire permits to self-drive while in foreign countries. Mr Huba will agree with me that he is aware of such Kenyans in the UK and elsewhere who have obtained permits to self-drive upon satisfying authorities in the countries that they are competent to do so after passing the driving tests.
In fact, holding a clean driving licence from Kenya is an added advantage for Kenyans. On M. Huba’s claims that the minister has failed Kenyans on the road safety matters, I would like to clarify that the ministry of Transport, and indeed the minister, has done a lot to ensure Kenyan roads are safe by formulating necessary rules and regulations for use by the Traffic Police Department.

Comparing minister John Michuki with minister Mwakwere and disparaging the latter for inactivity, is in bad taste. Mr Huba should be informed that Mr Mwakwere has not done anything different in terms of policy than what his predecessor did. I want to bring to Mr Huba’s attention that a visit to the ministry of Transport would reveal that the same infrastructure in terms of personnel and equipment during Michuki’s tenure at the ministry is still in place.
If anything, minister Mwakwere has gone further to enact more rules and regulations on road safety and therefore cannot be labelled a failure. It is instructive to note that Mr Huba has mentioned factors that he perceives are responsible for the unsafe motoring of environment in the country. If he had consulted the ministry, the writer would be well informed on the role the ministry plays in road safety.

Suffice it to say that the ministry of Transport is involved in policy formulation and through institutions such as the Transport Licensing Board, Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit, conducts inspections and licensing of public service vehicles as part of its role in enhancing safety in law, the role of the institutions does not include policing the roads.

I have taken the risk of being accused of passing the buck, but facts are facts and the ministry, and the minister for that matter, cannot exercise a mandate that is not recognised in law. Our advice to Huba and others with similar opinions is that blame or accusations could serve better purpose if they are apportioned to the responsible institutions.

Certainly, the minister for Transport is not responsible for enforcing road safety rules but the Traffic Police Department is. Instead, the worse that could happen is for Kenyans to continue suffering at the hands of reckless drivers while the responsible institution of the Government continues to do business as usual. After all, the flak is not in its court.

In my view, what the ministry rues is the fanfare with which the improved road safety regulations were launched in 2004 by then minister, Mr Michuki. This is illustrated in the labeling of the regulations to an individual rather than an institutional policy, a situation that has reinforced the notion that since subsequent ministers in the ministry have not been abrasive and wont to public limelight, then they are under performers.
The likes of Mr Huba should accept that different ministers have different management styles, and sincere and positive criticism especially when done factually, is always welcome. In this case, Mr Huba has ridiculed minister Mwakwere unfairly.
Kaunda Douglas
Public Relations Officer
Ministry of Transport


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Govt to acquire ferries at Sh1b

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Story by: Mwangi Maina

THE Government is set to acquire two new ferries at a cost of Sh1billion to replace the faulty ones currently operating at the Likoni channel, Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere has said.
He said the Cabinet approved the funds in February and an order for the vessels had been placed with German manufacturers who promised to deliver them before the end of the year.
Mwakwere’s announcement comes barely a week after two ferries stalled midstream while crossing the Likoni channel in Mombasa, causing panic reminiscent of that preceding the Mtongwe ferry disaster in 1994, in which hundreds of commuters perished. The minister acknowledged the poor conditions of the existing three ferries at the Likoni channel, saying they were obsolete and two of them should have been replaced 20 years ago.
He said the order for the new ferries was bound to take some time as the vessels could not be ordered off the shelf, considering that they had to be custom-made to fit specific configurations in accordance with the Mombasa channel in regard to loading and off-loading both passengers and cargo.
The minister at the same time said repairs were being carried out on the existing ferries to improve their conditions and appealed to members of the public to bear with the situation. He spoke during a Press briefing in his office where he defended his ministry against accusations of laxity in enforcing the popularly referred to as Michuki transport rules.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

Mwakwere has failed Kenyans

Friday, July 25, 2008

A friend of mine in the UK sought to hire a vehicle at Hertz offices. He filled out the procedural paperwork but when asked for his identification, he flashed out his passport and driving licence. On noticing that he is from Kenya, the girl behind the counter frowned, and asked him: “Sir, did you say you are from Kenya or are you a Kenyan?’ He further explained that he hails from the country that has a high number of world’s best athletes and the land of the big five etc.

“I am sorry we can’t let you drive. We can let you have a car but you have to get a driver,” the girl told him. “Why? Asked my startled friend, “I have a valid driving licence.” “Well, we don’t recognise Kenyan driving licences, not only us, but the whole of Europe,” said the girl. So none of us is by law allowed to drive in Europe.
Better stick to Kenya where Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere has failed Kenyans. He has failed to use his Transcom House office to implement policy changes that would sanitise on our roads. Consequently, hundreds of Kenyans have died in road accidents over the past years because the ministry has failed to address the inherent problems that dog the management of traffic on our roads.

Some of the accidents could have been avoided but action was never taken in time. Former minister in the Transport docket John Michuki proved that matatu sector can be regulated. He was rattled and like all snakes, he bared his fangs. This was enough to prove that touts and drivers were human beings like us, not aliens. And they will follow the rules if they the correct avenues are followed. Michuki restored sanity on our roads, but nightmares came back when Mwakwere stepped into the office.

Kenya needs an overhaul of the transport sector. The country has one of the highest cases of road accidents in the world, and this conforms to an alarming increase in traffic-related deaths all across Africa.
Blame has been put on the growing number of used cars imported from Europe and Japan, while others have placed the excuse on the poor training of drivers, corrupt police and deteriorating standards of our road network. Anybody can buy a driving licence in this country. My question to Mwakwere is; what legacy will you leave behind? A pile of dead accident victims?
David Huba Via e-mail


OUR RESPONSE:

What Mr. Huba seems to have failed to appreciate is the fact that there are three other ministries when it comes to what he called 'sanitise' our roads. The Roads ministry, Public Works docket and the Prov. Adm. & Nat. Security portfolio. The Traffic Police Unit are not under the Transport ministry as he may perhaps assume but under National Security docket. Blaming the Trasnport minister for the ineffective Traffic Police work is missing the point.

When it comes to driver's licences, people need to get International Driver's licences when they travel overseas. For reasons best known to themselves European countries do not recognize any African and or Third World countries drivers' licences. This is not restricted to Kenya's driver licences.

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Minister orders audit on airlines


THE Government has ordered an audit on local air operators to ensure they meet safety standards, the House was told yesterday. But Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere who made the disclosure was however, hard-pressed to explain why the government only takes action after a tragedy.
On points of order, MPs Jakoyo Midiwo (Gem, ODM), Dr Julius Kones (Konoini, ODM), Philip Kyalo Kaloki (Kibwezi, ODM-K) and James Rege (Karachuonyo, ODM), demanded the revocation of East Africa Airlines licence after Mwakwere admitted the company’s planes had experienced four mishaps since January this year.
The minister who was responding to Midiwo’s question said the pilot of the firm’s Fokker 27 Reg Mark 5Y-EEE flying to Kisumu on June 26 at 5.45 pm was forced to land back at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) shortly after take-off “due to insufficient pressurisation.” Mwakwere said the plane has since been inspected and released after it met the manufacturer’s requirements.



He added that he was aware of other incidents where the firm’s flights aborted but noted that the airline had a Safety Management System (SMS) that conforms to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requirements. Under this system, he noted, all safety reports on incidents are reported, analysed and resolved. Mwakwere said the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority regularly carries out audits on airlines. “Nonetheless, I take the observation made by the MP with the seriousness it deserves.

So I have ordered additional ad hoc audits on all local scheduled airlines,” he said. The minister warned that airlines found to have flouted safety regulations would be dealt with in accordance with the ICAO’s standards and recommended practices. Midiwo had demanded the East African Airline licence be revoked, saying its plane crashed killing Roads minister Kipkalya Kones and Home Affairs Assistant minister Lorna Laboso last month.
Dr Kones in his contribution wondered why the government waits for a disaster to happen to take action. Meanwhile, an MP accused the government of failing to post senior police officers in a new district. Chachu Ganya (North Horr, ODM) expressed concern that following the creation of Calbi district, the government was yet to post Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD), National Security Intelligence Services (NSIS) coordinator and the District Criminal Investigation Officer (DCIO).

But Provincial Administration and Internal Security Assistant minister Orwa Ojodeh said the delay was due to “lack of infrastructure but Sh20 million had been allocated to the district in the financial year to put up the same”. Ojodeh said his ministry was in the process of posting the officers after the Government allocated Sh700 million to new districts. He, however, said security in the new district had improved after more policemen were posted.
Chachu who confirmed the new posting however, said the stations did no have money to buy fuel while vehicles were few. Others who rose on points of order to complain of the delay in making the new districts operational included Ekwe Ethuro (Turkana Central, PNU) and Nkoidila Ole Lankas (Narok South, ODM). Meanwhile, the motion seeking to compel the government to adopt a mandatory in-house spraying of dwelling places in malaria-prone regions commenced yesterday.

Kimilili MP Dr Eseli Simiyu while moving the motion said the use of mosquito nets was not enough to contain malaria and called on the government to adopt in-house spraying to reduce transmission rate by over 60 per cent. Dr Simiyu said malaria kills an estimated 2.7 million people globally every year. Ikolomani legislator Boni Khalwale while seconding the motion urged the government not to limit the spraying to areas prone to malaria but to extend it to the rest of the country. He said the government should allocate more funds to Health ministry to fight the disease.



Thursday, July 10, 2008

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