One of Kenya’s leading road safety NGOs is now helping plan the country’s action for safer roads after working with Global Fleet Champions on an awards presentation.
Pamoja has joined the steering committee for non-state road safety actors to advise the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) on how to coordinate and manage systematic collaboration between the government and other road safety advocates. The steering committee will help in mapping out and vetting advocates.
The NGO has also since shifted its focus to work more closely with fleets and advocate for victims of road crashes, and will soon start offering Brake’s Pledge Training course to fleet operators in Kenya.
Pamoja previously worked with Global Fleet Champions to present EasyCoach Ltd with the first ever award for Fleet Analysis and Action at a ceremony in May.
Less than three weeks after presenting the award, Pamoja Team Leader Lucas Munene joined the EasyCoach team in their offices for an interview with Kenya’s newspaper The Business Daily.
In June, the NTSA called for a review meeting for the UN Road Safety Week where it proposed that road safety stakeholders create a better way of cooperating and coordinating their actions.
Pamoja was one of five organisations that were put forward to form a think-tank, which led to the creation of a consortium model that was adopted by a larger group under the guidance of the NTSA.
The think-tank has since been transitioned to a steering committee that will work with the NTSA over the next year to develop a framework and structure to guide the process.
The steering committee is attending weekly meetings hosted by the NTSA, which has a representative on the group to offer legal advice and guidance.
Its work will inform the Memorandum of Understanding to be signed between the NGOs and the NTSA.
Since the award presentation, Pamoja has also begun working with Brake to adopt and launch the Pledge training initiative in Kenya, which will see fleets across the country learn more about being safe and sustainable on the roads.
The first Kenyan Pledge training was run on 27 August alongside Rusinga Schools and Safedrive Africa Foundation.
EasyCoach will support the work to deliver Pledge Training through knowledge sharing and mentoring other fleets.
EasyCoach’s award recognised the company as a role model for other bus companies in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa for its use of fleet management information systems to deliver safe and efficient transport.
The World Health Organization estimates that 13,463 Kenyans died in road crashes in 2016, more than four times higher than the government’s figure of 2,965 deaths in the same year.