Traffic cameras can only work with political goodwill
Opinion
By
Mutahi Mureithi
| Mar 15, 2026
One of the speed enforcement cameras installed by the National Transport and Safety Authority along Thika Superhighway. [Gitau Wanyoike, Standard]
Sometime last year, I was driving on Thika Road on a Sunday when I stopped at a bus stop as I thought I had a mechanical issue with the car. On stepping out, I was accosted by two beefy policemen who accused me of obstructing traffic.
I told them I was off the road and, therefore, there was no way I was blocking other cars. In any case, I pointed out, there were about ten public service vehicles that were actually blocking the road. The bulkier policeman gave me a stern look – a look only the Kiganjo-types are capable of – and in a harsh tone asked whether my car was a PSV? And if it was, where is the inspection sticker? To cap it all, could I produce my PSV driver's licence?
Before I could say anything, both cops opened the doors and requested, - nay, ordered me to drive to Kasarani Police Station. I don’t know the legality of giving your tormentors a lift, but there I was at the police station, and my car key was taken to the District Traffic Officer.
I had been reduced to a key because, in not too long, I heard a loud voice call out: “Where is the owner of this car with one key?” I assumed it was mine and stepped into the stuffy office full of myriad characters pleading their case with the officer.
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After my crimes were read out aloud, I pleaded that I hadn’t broken any law, that perhaps my only crime was asking why the matatus were not being subjected to the same rules as the rest of us.
To cut a long story short, I was let off with a stern warning. But when I was driving out, the same bully of a cop who had brought me into the station had the temerity to ask for a lift back towards the highway. I told him, in not so many words, that he can take a walk to that place where heathens are barbequed forever.
Anyway, I digress. What was the point of the story? That our roads have been a menace, not from other drivers but from cops. But - and it is a big but - if the proposed traffic enforcement cameras work as they should, I believe this will mark the end of this menace.
I have always been of the opinion that traffic policemen should keep a ledger of the traffic violations they have encountered during the day and the number of tickets issued.
I haven’t really cracked this thing they are calling a private-public partnership in rolling out driving licences and traffic enforcement cameras, but I feel that if the entire proposition takes off, it will be a good thing. I would rather pay a fine than bribe. I wonder what they will do with the PSVs? Or even the boda bodas, who are a law unto themselves.
I would also like to understand the formula for cost-sharing of the proceeds of the fines between the financier, KCB, Pesa Print - the company behind the project – and the government. That is one area they need to come clean on. At Sh42 billion, we are committing the next few governments to what might be a lopsided contract, but what do I know?
When I look at the cameras that were placed all over Nairobi – ostensibly to deter crime as well as track criminals while doing their thing – they seem not to work anymore, yet we spent billions on them. How do I know they don’t work? They used to produce a very annoying flash at night. They no longer do.
I am driven by the fact that we have experimented with these things before and have failed miserably. What guarantee do we have that this time they will work? I am not crossing my fingers.