NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 2 – President William Ruto has ordered the Ministry of Transport and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to roll out the long-delayed instant traffic fines programme within one month and install road surveillance cameras in at least five to six major towns.In a directive delivered during a high-level road safety meeting under the framework of the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ), the President said the country could no longer afford delays in implementing reforms aimed at taming rising road fatalities and curbing corruption in traffic enforcement.“So I think we just must call it what it is. I have always wondered why we have taken us forever. Why don’t we enforce the instant fines program? Why haven’t we rolled out the cameras on our roads?”“It is my position, Waziri,(Transport CS Davis Chirchir) that within the shortest time possible, let us roll out the cameras. We’ve been discussing this forever. You know, when can we have the cameras on the roads,” President Ruto noted.The President insisted that the cameras be linked to an automated instant fines system to eliminate direct interactions between motorists and traffic police officers.“The cameras will provide foolproof evidence. When you commit the offence, you will receive a fine on your phone instantly. We do not need to argue with offenders. We do not need to bother the Chief Justice in court. The fine will be predetermined,” he said.Administrative penaltiesBacking proposals contained in a multi-agency report, Ruto supported amendments to the Traffic Act to introduce instant fines and a demerit point system for driving licences, effectively shifting minor traffic offences from the criminal justice process to administrative handling.“I agree with the report and with the Chief Justice that some of these traffic offences need to be moved to the realm of administrative interventions,” he said.The President argued that lengthy court processes had created fertile ground for bribery, which he decried as rife.“If the fine for a traffic offence is Sh1,000 and it means you spend a whole day in a courtroom waiting to pay the Sh1,000, then it’s a waste of time. That’s how we end up with the challenges that we have. We must make it much more painful to pay the bribe and much easier to pay the legal fine,” he said.He noted that the Minor Traffic Offences Regulations were adopted by Parliament in 2016, clearing any legal hurdle for implementation.“So the story is finished. We have the law, we have the cameras, let’s just roll them out,” he said.Ruto further proposed a progressive penalty structure where repeat offenders pay higher fines with each subsequent violation within a year, saying this would deter habitual law-breaking.Grim road safety statisticsThe renewed push comes against the backdrop of alarming road crash data. The country recorded more than 4,000 road fatalities annually. Last year alone, 5,009 deaths were reported, an increase of 261 compared to 2024.The accidents cost the economy an estimated Sh450 billion annually, equivalent to about five per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.During the 2025 festive season alone, 415 deaths were recorded, representing a 23 per cent increase from the previous year.However, the President noted that a pilot inter-agency traffic justice model conducted over the 2025–2026 festive season had yielded measurable gains. The initiative brought together 36 prosecutors, 40 officers from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, and 121 NTSA officers in coordinated enforcement.As a result, the president indicated that fatalities involving public service vehicles declined by 10 per cent due to intensified oversight.Digital integrationBeyond instant fines, the report recommends sweeping digital reforms, including the establishment of an integrated e-transport and traffic case management system linking police, prosecutors, the judiciary and prisons.Ruto said digitisation had proven effective in reducing corruption across other government interventions.“I have seen in all the other government interventions how digitisation has reduced theft, corruption and pilferage. We need a digital system that brings all actors into one space in a transparent manner,” he said.The reforms also include deployment of body-worn cameras for traffic officers, strengthened integrity testing, enhanced anti-bribery mechanisms, and improved welfare and supervision of enforcement officers.“The IG will tell you he has a long list of people who want to join the traffic department not because they are hard-working officers, but because of what is going on there. We must call it what it is,” he said.Vehicle inspection through PPPOn vehicle roadworthiness, Ruto pressed the ministry to fast-track a public-private partnership (PPP) framework for nationwide motor vehicle inspection.He questioned why the government should spend Sh12 billion to set up inspection centres when the private sector was willing to invest.“Why are we looking for Sh12 billion to inspect vehicles using government money when the private sector can do it and give us revenue?” he posed.Transport CS Chirchir told the President that new inspection regulations had already been gazetted and that licensing of private operators would begin immediately, with full rollout expected by July 1.Under the new framework, private actors will be licensed by NTSA to establish inspection centres across counties, reducing the need for motorists to travel to designated government facilities.Ruto maintained that proper vehicle inspection and automated enforcement could reduce road safety challenges by up to 70 per cent.Black spots and emergency responseThe report also prioritises fast-tracking identification of accident black spots, particularly along the Northern Corridor and the Mombasa–Nairobi Highway, adoption of “safety by design” principles in new road projects, and expansion of pedestrian walkways and dual carriageways.It recommends digital fatigue monitoring systems such as tachographs for commercial vehicles, mandatory defensive driving certification for PSV operators, and formalisation of cross-border operations through SACCO structures.On emergency response, the proposals include the establishment of additional trauma centres and ambulance response points along major highways, and strengthening of the Golden Hour Response Framework to improve survival rates after crashes.While acknowledging progress made through coordinated festive season enforcement, Ruto warned that rising fatalities, infrastructure gaps, systemic corruption risks and weak digital integration demanded urgent national action.“Road safety must be pursued through a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society approach,” he said.“As a country, we have made an important step through coordinated enforcement and traffic codes. However, road safety reform must now move from pilot phase to full national transformation,”President Ruto added.