The news that The City Council of Nairobi-CCN has embarked
on reining in on traffic offenders in the CBD is music to the ears. This is long overdue
and it is one of the things that have continued to create disorder in the city centre.
Motorists who disregard traffic lights with abandon, double park, obstruct,
driving while on the phone and make turns that can easily cause accidents.
Handcart pushers who take whole lanes at their pace.
Pedestrians who talk on phones while crossing roads,
crossing with outright disregard to the lights and crossing anywhere anyhow.
Recently, Family TV hosted Mr. Odhiambo Oketch and myself
for their weekly program, IT IS ALL IN THE FAMILY that comes on Friday 8.00pm.
We were discussing carelessness,
indiscipline and the bylaws. The disorder around us is all about carelessness and
indiscipline.
This carelessness is both from us residents as well as the enforcers.
For order to prevail, regulations and by laws must be enforced. If this is
done, we will have a society that is orderly. It is imperative that first and
foremost, enforcers ensure that residents understand these by laws and know
them and the consequences.
If you drive along Thika
Road, at Muthaiga, there is a footbridge, but
pedestrians still insist on crossing between cars and risk being knocked down.
Just a few meters away is Muthaiga Police Station.
Along
Thika Road, a little traffic and matatus will drive underpass, cross to
the opposite side and begin a dangerous opposite cruise to the same
destination! This culture is catching up and nobody seems to care.
If you regularly drive on James Gichuru Road, you must know
that matatus number 48 do not follow the lanes, they drive on the opposite side
almost all the way to Lavington and Kawangare! Yet Muthangari Police Station is just on that road!
Enforcement is a big problem in this
country, but so it our indiscipline. You must have driven behind a
person who will toss a whole bunch of
fast food wrappers onto the road after eating in the car. Water bottles
are strewn on the road like child play. Some even carry whole household
waste
for the week to throw on the roads as they drive to work!
Now, some order needs to be instilled and it must be
punitive. Those who engage in disorder must be punished severely. This will
make them think twice before engaging is such nonsense in the future.
But before we are quick to do so, the enforcers must ensure
that services are rendered. If it is the council, it MUST get its act together
with regard to provision of waste collection, receptacles, bins etc. Pedestrian
crossings must be marked visibly and traffic lights ought to work at all time.
Enforcers must be at hand to apprehend offenders.
If it is the police, they must ensure our traffic flows reasonably
so that motorists do not lose patience. They must be efficient in controlling
traffic and responding to emergencies on the road.
In societies where order prevails, first and foremost,
services are super. The highways are manned by CCTV and offenders are
tracked and charged. But at the same time, police are there to ensure order,
both on the beat and driven patrols. They arrive at an accident scene within
minutes, complete with the fire department and ambulances and no clogging will
occur as a result like on our case.
These things boil down to leadership and those tasked with
managing order. The situation is as good as the officers in charge. If you have
lethargic, incompetent all day newspaper reading type, no order can prevail.
If you have those who have an eye on the job, you will
definitely notice order.
Otieno Sungu.
0729294743.
Nairobi.
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