Members of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure turned away officials from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) for presenting them with unsatisfactory data.
The officials led by Director General George Njao had appeared before the MPs to respond to various queries on the functions of NTSA.
Acting chair Mwangi Kiunjuri asked the committee to go back and return with precise and appropriate answers to questions raised by members.
Wajir North MP Saney Ibrahim Abdi said the data presented by NTSA in several sections of the report was misleading.
“When I look at the data presented here, there were no motorcycle fatalities in Wajir County in 2021, 2022, 2023. How can this be true? It is a very bad thing to present information that is incorrect because the government makes some decisions based on data,” he stated.
Abdi said he has contributed to “very many” fundraisers in aid of victims of motorcycle accidents.
“If you have never been there to collect data because of one reason or the other just say so,” he said.
The report also said there were no motorcycle fatalities in Madera County for the three years.
It further said there were no pedestrian and driver fatalities in Wajir County, also for the three years.
The report said Kiambu and Nairobi had the highest fatalities between 2021 and 2023. “Mandera and Wajir counties recorded the least number of fatalities,” the report stated.
NTSA was further put on the spot over the planned mandatory retesting of drivers.
Authority officials could not explain why they opted to retest public service vehicle and commercial vehicle drivers yet their data shows the two only account for 35 per cent of road accidents.
“Why go only for the two while a huge percentage of accidents involve pedestrians, motorcyclists, pedal cyclists and private car owners,” posed Nakuru Town West Samuel Arama.
Kiunjuri said a number of accidents on Kenyan roads have nothing to do with the driver or the state of the vehicle.
“Some people get knocked down because there are no footbridges. Cyclists also do not have their lane. Some roads are the cause of the accidents,” the Laikipia East MP said.
Arama added that the lack of adequate funds may be the reason NTSA does not have data from certain areas in the country.
“Do you have the capacity to do your job? I am told that you don’t have money,” he stated.
The government suspended the mandatory requirement for all commercial and public service vehicle drivers to undergo a driving re-test before renewal of their licenses.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said a multi-agency team would be established to look into the concerns raised by the drivers.
Drivers claim that the new NTSA rules requiring them to undergo a new test for driving is discriminatory.
Data from the Ministry of Transport shows that out of 1,847 drivers across the country who underwent a retest between June 9 and June 30 this year, only 576 passed the exercise with 1,170 recording a fail.