President William Ruto on Monday, January 9 vetoed yet another executive order by the former Head of State Uhuru Kenyatta in his latest Executive Order No. 1 of 2023.
In the directive, Ruto reverted the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to Transport Ministry from the Interior docket.
Former President Kenyatta had in 2019 moved NTSA to the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination.
The move was initiated through an Executive Order signed by President Kenyatta.
“For the efficient, expedient and coordinated discharge of the function of Road Transport and Safety, it shall be undertaken by the State Department of Interior,” the order dated January 21 read.
NTSA had then been domiciled under the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development.
During his tenure as president, Kenyatta issued an order to withdraw NTSA officers from the roads and have traffic police as custodians of their duties.
"From now onwards, NTSA officers will not be on the roads as the responsibility to enforce the traffic regulations lies squarely on the police. Let police ensure that all rules are adhered to," Uhuru ordered.
The authority together with the police has been at loggerheads with regard to who should man the roads but this changed in February 2022 following a court ruling.
In the court ruling, NTSA suspended seven key services from its platform.
The authority noted that it was halting the licensing of driving schools, renewal of driving school licenses and the licensing of driving school instructors.
Other services suspended were the renewal of driving school Instructor's licenses, Provisional Driving License (PDL) applications for driver trainees, test booking for driving school instructors and driver trainees and the testing of driving school instructors and driver trainees.
The move by Ruto now puts the Authority under the watch of Transport and Roads Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.
NTSA is mandated to register and license motor vehicles, conduct motor vehicle inspection and certification and regulate public service vehicles (PSVS).
