On Sunday, 21st Tharaka Nithi County played host to the regional World Day of Remembrance, an event in remeberance of road crash victims observed worldwide on the third Sunday of every November. The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) partnered with The County Government of Tharaka-Nithi, Chuka Universty, Kenya Redcross, KenGen, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Mount Kenya Milk among other stakeholders to commemorate and pay homage to victims of road carnage. According to statistics, 3733 accident cases were witnessed in the country as at 31st October 2021 compared to 3090 in 2020. Tharaka-Nithi County has so far recorded a total of 95 incidents of road accidents, 17 being fatal, 34 serious incidents and 44 slight injuries. While speaking at the event, County Commissioner Beverly Opwora noted that road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death, disability, hospitalisation and social economic loss. "Low speeds can prevent deaths and serious injuries. In our country we have an estimated 3000 deaths with about 40% of those involving pedestrians" she added. According to Opwora, economic loss was at 3.5% of the GDP per year as a result of traffic accidents. She further acknowledged that the bodaboda industry, which had massive impact on the economy sufferers a great loss due to road accidents and that the government would ensure individuals affected are duly supported through various government programs. "The government over the years has put in place measures, policies, legislations, projects and programs to ensure road safety. It has further invested heavily on road Infrastructure that is being implemented in both the national and county governments to ensure roads are safe" - Beverly Opwora. Tharaka Nithi County CECM on Roads and Infrastructure Eng. Julius Kijiru Giti who is also the Chair of the Road Safety Committee in the county appreciated efforts by NTSA to promote road safety and emphasize on the need to know how to co-exist as road users. Eng. Kijiru further added that the proposal to re-engineer Nithi bridge and re-align it to reduce curvature as well as slope to make road safer was a costly solution. "We are all stakeholders in the road sector. We need to control speeds to reduce fatalities and number of accidents. Overtaking is a critical problem in managing road accidents", he said. Robert, a representative of the Public Transport Sector reported that the National Government initiated a program where all PSV players are required to formulate entities to manage their businesses, SACCO'S and companies licensed by the NTSA. He further said that management was required to observe compliance as required by law to offer safety and that rogue crew members in PSV are de-registered and withdrawn from their SACCO'S. "Overspending is a major accident cause on our roads. We have a responsibility as PSV to take into consideration the safety of our people", he said. KRA Regional Office and Mount Kenya Milk through their representatives appreciated efforts by NTSA in ensuring road safety in line with the UN overall objective of reducing road fatalities by 50% globally. DCC Chuka Sub County Nkaduda Hiribae and County Police Commander Charles Mbatu took to the podium to emphasize importance of having vehicles on the right condition and warned of overtaking and drunk driving. Passengers were also asked to ensure vehicles have seat belts and that they are not overloaded. The event started off with a free medical camp by Tenri Hospital, before the participants walked to Nithi bridge and back to Chuka Universty where the rest of the event took place.
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