LETTERS: Failure to adopt rules mirrors broken society

The government has intensified measures aimed at enforcing the famous ‘Michuki’ rules on traffic regulations. The late no nonsense minister John Michuki introduced very tough measures when he was in charge of the Transport docket at the onset of former president Mwai Kibaki’s reign.

These rules especially targeted at public transport sector more so the matatus on Kenyan roads almost brought sanity into our roads. That in 2004 Kenyans were ready to walk to work so that these regulations could come into force and ensure vehicles complied was an indicator of the resolve by the public that was also tired of the recklessness and the state of the industry.

That the matatus were a public transport mess was not and is still not in doubt. That it still went back to the same mess, is a big shame and an indicator of how our society quickly malfunctions when there is poor oversight.

That matatus are an important industry in Kenya is not in doubt as well. But the cartels and rogue nature of its operations makes it look like a bandit industry.

The sheer audacity to defy very sensible laws, reckless drivers endangering their own lives and those of their passengers (customers) and all other road users with a seemingly acquiescent law enforcement agencies entrusted to ensure discipline on the road (traffic police) and to the extent the public, shows how deep the rot has penetrated the society. Avarice is a glorified culture in Kenya and hence why corruption that destroys all the fabric of society thrives in abundance.

The question for now is how long the enforcement of these regulations will last. This question is valid as we have seen in the past where the regulations were abandoned or selectively enforced after the late Michuki left the transport ministry docket.

From there it was free fall to anarchy. Transport regulations aimed at protecting lives are important and should never be eased.

The problem in Kenya is the depths into which corruption has permeated the fabric of the society, which allows rogue behaviour to reign in many areas to the detriment of Kenyans while exposing innocent lives to unwarranted or preventable risks.

That said, there are numerous reforms that must be undertaken in the transport sector. Besides taming bad habits, the roads also need to be improved and some may have to be redesigned.

It is also well known that we have inadequate all-weather roads and it is also a tall order to manage to finance all this in our constrained economy.

Nonetheless, building new road infrastructure is necessity for the economy. But roads are not the only problem that bedevil our transport sector. Indiscipline and corruption have to be totally tamed to ensure that we have efficient and safe means of transportation.

If a society allows corruption to thrive, it consequently destroys everything and everyone in it.

The mess in the transport sector is a direct consequence of corruption that has thrived in the Kenyan society for long. Evil breeds more evil and quickly or systematically destroys everything.

We are all paying a price for a thriving corruption culture in the society. Decency and good structures that would protect the society has slowly been eaten over time.

The public transport industry is one that can help address the unemployment problem in the country. The problem remains the level of indiscipline and criminal behaviour in the sector.

Attracting modern ways of transport especially in big cities becomes a problem as sabotage and all manner of cartels curtail it.

At any rate rogue industries end up attracting more shadowy characters and behaviours. But as Cabinet Secretary for Interior Fred Matiang’i has shown with his resolve in the various dockets he has handled ‘where there is a will there is a way’

Harrison Mwirigi Ikunda, Nairobi.