CS Murkomen orders NTSA to suspend killer Modern Coast buses
Passengers wait for buses outside a Modern Coast booking office on Jomo Kenyatta Avenue in Mombasa City on December 29, 2022.
WINNIE ATIENO
The government has for the second time this year suspended the licence of Modern Coast Express Limited amidst questions around the lifting of an earlier ban in July.
The suspension came hours after the bus company was involved in another accident in Uganda killing six people.
Six victims died and several others were injured after the Modern Coast Bus-annex bus Oxygen and a Rwandan bus collided head-on along the Ntungamo-Kabale Highway in western Uganda, with authorities blaming bad weather.
And on Wednesday, a bus belonging to the company killed one person while reversing at Makutano junction along Kisii Nyamira road where their offices are located after its driver failed to control the vehicle thereby hitting a stationary motor vehicle, Toyota Hiace, registration number KCP 599X, owned by Edgerton Njori Sacco.
It got damaged on the left rear side and fatally injured an unknown middle-aged man. The ill-fated bus, which was carrying an unknown number of passengers, was headed to Homa Bay from Mombasa.
The bus later landed in Masosa River after which an unknown number of passengers were rescued. However, the transporter contradicted the police saying there were no casualties.
Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Mr Kipchumba Murkomen has now revealed that the transporter was allowed to operate in November this year after the company complied with all the conditions that had been set for them.
However, the CS slapped the company with another suspension following the Kisii accident.
“I have directed NTSA to suspend all operations of the Modern Coast bus company with immediate effect, as investigations into the accident continue. The bus company must also ensure that all passengers who had booked with them are facilitated to allow for safe and seamless travel to their destinations,” the CS directed.
Mr Murkomen said the Kisii accident raises concerns about the state of operations and safety levels at the bus company coming just months after the River Nithi accident that occurred on July 24, killing 36 people and injuring many others.
He said the July accident led to the suspension of the license of the bus company for three months.
He said their joint press conference with the Cabinet Secretary for Interior Mr Kithure Kindiki on December 20, outlined several measures motorists, Public Service Vehicles owners and passengers must adhere to, to reduce road carnage during the festive season.
Stalled vehicles
Among the measures include ensuring vehicles are well serviced and drivers well-rested before taking to the road, proper display and positioning of signage like triangles, chevrons, and retro-reflective, towing of stalled vehicles within one hour, observing speed limits and passenger capacity, adherence to designated routes, and paying attention to traffic signs and traffic lights.
“Motorists must also avoid reckless overtaking, overlapping, and driving under the influence of alcohol. Now that the festive season is almost over and passengers are travelling back to their places of work, we will double down on our efforts to ensure all motorists adhere to these measures,” he added.
He warned that his ministry would not hesitate to take stern action against anyone flouting traffic rules.
The firm’s woes began in 2017 after more than 15 people died in horrific multiple crashes at the notorious Sachangwan blackspot on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway following a series of collisions involving more than 13 vehicles.
A Modern Coast bus, two trucks and a land cruiser that was headed to Kampala from Nairobi were involved in the crash that left others with critical injuries causing a major traffic snarl-up on the busy highway.
In 2019, NTSA enforced the first suspension of its operations following safety issues and major road crashes that claimed seven lives.
The regulator assured Kenyans that it would also evaluate the bus company’s safety operation standards.
The regulator said it had also shut down the online portal and grounded 88 vehicles.
However, the suspension was later lifted.
And in July 2022, NTSA slapped the company with yet another suspension, after their bus plunged into the Nithi river at the Nithi bridge black spot, killing 36 people and injuring scores of others.
