Kenya’s Cabinet has approved the creation of a special unit to independently investigate transport-related accidents and make recommendations to reduce fatalities, with over 4,000 people dying on roads annually.
The Kenya Transport Accident Investigation Bureau will be established as an independent and autonomous agency for road, rail, and water transport, mirroring the trend in Western economies like the US, Australia, and the Netherlands.
The bureau will allow for the separation of transport safety regulation from accident investigations to ensure autonomy and objectivity. Only aircraft-related accidents will continue to be investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Department.
The Cabinet has also approved the development of the Kenya Transport Accident Investigation Bureau Bill, 2023, which will provide a legal framework for the establishment of the investigative agency.
The current practice of transport safety investigation by transport regulators has brought about conflict of interest, hampering independent reporting and questioning the credibility of such investigations.
The transport sector faces increasing accident trends, particularly in the road sector, where fatalities have risen for the sixth consecutive year from 2,919 in 2017 to 4,690 last year.
