Hardly a week passes without fatal road accidents occurring along the Mai Mahiu-Kaplong road. The recent death of a Bomet County Assembly member in a freak accident along the 87 km Narok-Mai Mahiu road illustrates how dangerous the stretch is.
Nyongores Ward Rep Cecilia Towett met her death at Eore-Kule area when a Toyota Probox she was traveling in from Bomet to Nairobi collided head on with a lorry.
In the last three years alone, according traffic police records in Narok, Bomet and Sotik, more than 200 people including passengers, pedestrians and motorists have died and an equal number maimed in accidents along the road.
Factors that lead to the accidents include speeding, corruption, poorly marked sections that become invisible at night, fog, narrow sections, sharp bends, dilapidated sections, unmarked pedestrian and livestock crossings.
The Mai Mahiu-Narok road has sharp bends, corners and steep sections while the Mulot-Kaplong route has gaping pot holes that are invisible during rainy seasons and at night.
Two years ago, 44 passengers travelling to Migori from Nairobi in a night bus were killed at Pinyiny, near Ntulele trading centre, after the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle before it landed in a ravine.
Some stakeholders in the transport sector blame corruption involving drivers and traffic police on the rising number of accidents, arguing that overloaded and speeding vehicles and even unroadworthy ones are allowed to use the road.
“The road is a death trap. It lacks maintenance,” Narok Senator Stephen ole Ntutu told Senate recently. Last year, six people died at Longisa area along the Narok-Bomet road when a bus collided head on with a car they were travelling in.
Motorists and traffic police say Suswa, Duka Moja, Maltauro, Pinyiny, Eore-Kule, TM, Ololulung’a, Mulot and Longisa areas are blacks spots and want remedial measures taken to reduce the carnage.
Two years ago, a lorry that was traveling from Bomet to Nairobi knocked down more than 100 goats and sheep at TM near Narok town, leading to protests from residents who closed the busy highway for more than eight hours. It was opened after Narok county government compensated the animal owner with Sh200, 000.
The Narok County Police Commander Abdi Galgalo says most accidents along the Narok-Mai Mahiu-Bomet road were as a result of reckless driving. He also blames criminals for vandalising signs along dangerous sections.
But some drivers some say accidents happen because the road is jinxed, and that even if they are cautious, they just find themselves involved in accidents.
“Though some signs have been vandalised by scrap metal dealers, most drivers exercise caution but end up either being hit by other vehicles or just find themselves causing accidents,” says John Asiba, a truck driver who transports bananas and vegetables from Kisii to Nairobi.
He adds: “This road is like the Nakuru-Salgaa section. It is jinxed. Even if you exercise caution you still find yourself involved in an accident. The devil is present on this road.” Residents of Pinyiny and adjacent areas, killed a nine-foot python blaming it for the accidents.
Christians living in the area said since an Ildamat clan age- set chief was killed in the clashes that pitted the clan with the populous Purko in 1996 in the Pinyiny thicket, the section of the road has claimed lives, arguing that the area needs cleansing.
Abdulkadir Said, Eldoret Grains Ltd officer says most accidents can be avoided if laws are enforced and drivers become more cautious.
Anthony Torome, an official with Narok Line Sacco Ltd that operates a fleet of matatus on Narok-Mai Mahiu-Nairobi-Bomet-Nakuru-Kericho-Kilgoris and Kisii roads say drivers should undergo refresher traffic courses. “These accidents happen because drivers fail to obey simple traffic signs,” he says.
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