Wreckage of a 14- seater matatu and a truck that were involved in an accident at Chimoi market on June 27, 2026. [File, Standard]
Taxpayers are losing an estimated Sh1.5 trillion of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year to road carnage, representing eight per cent of the income.
This figure, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has warned, is likely to increase to 11 per cent if drastic measures are not taken to reduce road accidents across the country.
NTSA Director General Nashon Kondiwa told a parliamentary committee at the authority's headquarters in Nairobi that inadequate funding, weak enforcement of traffic laws and poor road-user behaviour were undermining efforts to make Kenyan roads safer.
He said the country needed to urgently invest in road safety, warning that the economic cost of road crashes could continue rising unless the Government addressed the underlying causes.
“The real people are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists,” Mr Kondiwa told the committee, highlighting the vulnerability of road users who are increasingly bearing the brunt of fatal crashes.