At least 14 people have been killed in separate accidents within 24 hours across the country.
About 10 others are nursing wounds following the accidents, police said.
The first accident happened Friday morning and claimed seven lives in Limuru along Nakuru-Nairobi highway.
This increased to 12, the number of people killed in two separate accidents in less than 24 hours in the area alone.
In the latest accident, seven people died Friday morning after the driver of a 14-seater matatu lost control and veered off the road at the Kamandura junction on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, police said.
Witnesses and police said the vehicle plunged into a steep slope and rolled several times killing five people on the spot.
Limuru subcounty police commander Mary Gachie said the matatu, which belonged to Kijabeline Sacco, was travelling from Nairobi to Kijabe town.
Five passengers died on the spot, while two others succumbed to their injuries while receiving treatment at a local hospital.
Four survivors, all in critical condition, are currently receiving treatment at Tigoni Hospital, police said.
The accident occurred at around 8 am, approximately one kilometre from the scene of another fatal crash that happened on Thursday evening.
In the Thursday night accident, a private vehicle crashed after a tyre burst, killing three people on the spot. Two more victims later died while undergoing treatment, police said.
Another accident happened at a bridge in Kirinyaga county on Thursday evening killing two people.
This is after a pickup truck they were travelling in plunged into River Nyamindi at Kaboro Bridge in Gichugu.
Police said the pickup was carrying five people at the time. Two of them—now confirmed dead—remain trapped in the vehicle submerged in the river, while three others managed to escape.
The driver of the pickup, which was transporting logs to Kiamugumo village in Ngariama ward, lost control and veered off the road into the river.
The victims were a man, who was driving the vehicle, and his aunt.
Police identified the victims as Grace Njeru and Vincent Kiura. Fatal accidents have been on the rise amid calls to take action to slow the trend.
As part of measures to address the menace of road carnage, Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said the National Transport and Safety Authority and police will be erecting breathalyzers on major roads across the country.
He said any driver caught under the influence of alcohol beyond the prescribed limit shall be fined up to Sh100,000 or face an imprisonment of a term not exceeding two years or both.
Additionally, any person who shall be convicted of drinking and driving will be disqualified from obtaining a license for one year.
According to the CS, the laws that had been thrown out by the courts have been amended by the National Assembly, granting the NTSA the mandate to enforce drunk driving regulations.
NTSA will be mounting the checkpoints as per the Traffic (Drink-Driving) Rules, 2025, birthed through the amendment of Section 4 of the Traffic Act, CAP 403. Chirchir said he has already signed and submitted the new regulations for re-gazettement, which will be published this week and implementation will be immediate.
“Any person who, when driving or attempting to
drive or in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other
public place, is under the influence of an alcoholic drink
or a drug beyond the prescribed limits, shall be guilty of
an offence and liable to a fine of up to Sh100,000 or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to
both,” reads part of the new law.
