Roy Hauliers has moved to court to block the Kenya Forest Services (KFS)
from selling its lorry worth Sh9 million impounded transporting 60 bags
of charcoal illegally in Narok. Photo/FILE
By EUNICE MACHUHI
The High Court has declined to grant an order
sought by transporters to suspend a legal notice that requires them to
install speed governors in their trucks.
The Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) is
challenging a decision by the Transport secretary and the National
Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), which requires truck owners to
fit their vehicles with digital speed governors.
The devices should conform to the Kenya Bureau of
Standards (Kebs) specifications as tested and approved by the agency’s
chief mechanical and transport engineer.
In his ruling, Justice Muriithi said the applicant
failed to demonstrate urgent need to be protected by a conservatory
order and declined to issue it.
He said that public interest outweighed the
applicants’ interest because it is a matter that deals with passengers’
lives on one hand and the financial aspect on the other. He directed
that the case be heard within seven days from Thursday.
Safety
The requirement for speed governors in commercial
trucks is part of the government’s move to improve safety on roads, with
public service vehicles already affixing similar gadgets.
The petitioners said that the trucks, which are
manufactured outside the country, have inbuilt speed governors which
meet local requirements.
They further argued that the vehicles have a
warranty of three years or 250,000 kilometres and that the document
would expire if the vehicles’ critical systems are tampered with.
KTA, through its lawyer William Mogaka, claimed that the government established the legal notice without input from experts.
But while opposing the application for
conservatory orders NTSA, through its lawyer Wamuti Ndegwa, argued that
suspending the regulations would be putting many lives at risk.
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