Kenyan President William Ruto inaugurated a five-year road safety action plan on Wednesday as the country sought to curb the rising number of fatalities and injuries on its roads.

Mr Ruto said the strategy aims to reduce the annual road accidents in the East African nation by over 50 per cent as he unveiled the National Road Safety Action Plan 2024-2028 in Nairobi, the capital.

At least 3,500 people are killed and over 20,000 critically injured on Kenyan roads every year, and most of the victims are pedestrians, according to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).

Mr Ruto said all “black spots” on major highways and roads in Kenya will be fitted with cameras to monitor drivers’ behavior to curb accidents.

Cabinet Secretary for Roads, Transport, and Public Works, Kipchumba Murkomen, said the action plan is a framework to keep roads safe, including thorough training of drivers.

Between January and March, at least 1,200 people have been killed on Kenyan roads, the highest toll since 2022, according to the NTSA.

A United Nations road safety meeting in 2022 ranked some of Kenya’s roads as among the deadliest in the world due to high fatalities.

(Xinhua/NAN)