Evil spirits have no hands in road accidents. According to data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), Kenya has documented 974 deaths from road accidents since January 2023.
Pedestrians were responsible for the most deaths, accounting for 330, followed by motorcyclists (265), and passengers (171).
NTSA recorded 98 driving deaths, 93 pillion passengers, and 17 pedal bikers over a three-month period.
According to the NTSA, the overall number of fatalities decreased from 1,021 to 974 in the same time last year.
This is a 4.6% decrease compared to the same period in 2022.
The authorities attributed the decrease to greater public education and awareness through the Government Road Safety Mainstreaming Programme and the European Union-supported Usalama Barabarani Campaign.
Drivers, government officials, and other stakeholders have frequently expressed varying opinions about what led to these multiple collisions.
However, I believe that the story that is said to be the work of bad spirits or powers is the most absurd.
I have read and heard numerous instances of drivers and locals who believe that evil spirits haunt the regions that are frequently referred to as accident hotspots.
Some claim that these malicious spirits take the form of gorgeous women or animals that seem to be crossing the highway. Similar testimonies have been posted in a facebook page called Local Truckers Forum, where truck drivers and residents adjacent the black patches have acknowledged to having set eyes on the deadly ‘women’.
A former bus driver on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway stated, “A beautiful woman flagged me down twice at the Miseke River bridge.” Instead, I grew suspicious and accelerated.”
He would have decided to ignore the occurrence, he added, but a week later, the same ‘lady’, clothed in white, flagged him down at the same area, and a day after, a tragic disaster occurred at the bridge.
Well, I don’t want to fully dismiss the above arguments, but if there are any true evil spirits involved in our road accidents, they must undoubtedly be imbedded in human and road elements.
From careless driving, disobeying traffic rules, and poor mechanical condition of cars, it may be difficult to persuade someone else that Kenyan drivers are not possessed by some powerful evil spirits.
But if this is the case, then boda boda motorcycle riders must be under the control of the most powerful demonic spirits in the country. In a similar line, I think our traffic cops also require some significant “cleaning.”
The staggering number of offenders who almost weekly commit the same driving offenses is astounding. The police have now pledged to begin apprehending and charging the offenders, but I’m not sure if this will be possible given the culture of corruption and complacency among our officers.