The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has identified inadequate funding as one of the major challenges slowing efforts to expand and improve key roads across the country, as road accidents continue to claim lives.KeNHA Director General Luka Kimeli said on Monday, October 5, that the expansion of more than 2,500 kilometres of roads could significantly reduce the number of accidents, particularly along highways that have been identified as high-risk sections.Among the roads targeted for expansion is the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway, which is currently under construction, as well as the Mombasa-Nairobi Highway, where a series of fatal crashes have been reported in recent days.Kimeli said the planned dualling of the Mombasa-Nairobi Highway could help address some of the safety challenges experienced along the busy road, even as key agencies entrusted with road safety appear to be trading blame over the surge in road accidents.“We have lost a lot of lives on that road, and we hope that when the issue of dualling is addressed, we shall not have the kind of problems we are currently having,” Kimeli told Citizen TV.He, however, noted that KeNHA faces competition from other government sectors when seeking funds for road projects, limiting the pace at which some planned improvements can be undertaken.“The biggest challenge we have is the competition we are subjected to when seeking funding with other sectors of the economy,” the KeNHA DG said. KeNHA Director of Development Henry Gakuru also pointed to terrain and some design challenges as factors that could contribute to accidents in certain sections, saying the agency was working to address such risks.The authority said it was also considering speed-calming measures and other interventions at identified blackspots while appealing to motorists to exercise caution and observe traffic rules.The position differs from that of the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), which said road safety cannot be attributed to one factor, with the agency pointing to the condition of vehicles, roads, road users and post-crash response.“When a crash happens, you ask yourself what was the issue with the vehicle and the road as well as the road user and the post-crash,” NTSA Director of Safety Andrew Kiplagat said.NTSA said it had audited some sections of the major highways and recommended interventions, including dualling in some areas, but noted that the responsible road agencies were yet to implement some of the recommendations.Meanwhile, motorists have raised concerns over inadequate road signs, stalled trucks left on highways for long periods, unmarked bumps and risky driving behaviour on roads including the Nairobi-Nakuru, Nakuru-Eldoret and Mombasa-Nairobi highways.Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said the government was taking steps to address the rising accidents, including expanding key highways, and assured that the Nairobi-Mombasa road and other identified accident hotspots remained a priority as the government works on funding.
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