NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 4 – Steve Mutia has been charged with 40 counts of causing death by dangerous driving for being behind the wheel of a bus that crashed on the Mai Mahiu-Narok road last Thursday. He has also been charged for driving an unroadworthy vehicle, driving without an inspection sticker and driving without a road service license before a Narok court. Mutia however plead not guilty to the charges arguing that it was the bus company, City to City which should be held accountable for the overloaded bus and the resultant deaths. “I am a powerless driver in this company since I am only one month old in the company and I had warned my two conductors that the bus was not stable long before the accident occurred,” he had told journalists on Tuesday. Mutia went on to explain that he had tried and failed to get assistance for his passengers following the accident but was unsuccessful on account of his own injuries which include head injuries and a broken arm. “I tried waving other cars on that route to stop for one hour (after the accident) without getting any help. By then, I was bleeding all over,” he recalled. The driver surrendered himself, in the company of his wife, to the police at the National Traffic Headquarters in Nairobi on Tuesday following a four-day manhunt. The owner of the bus company Mutia blames for the accident was already arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts on Monday for operating a faulty bus and failing to keep records of his drivers. He was however supposed to be brought before a Narok court on fresh charges as the accident occurred in its jurisdiction. The accident occurred in the wee hours of last Thursday morning after Mutia lost control of the bus that was bound for Homa Bay and sent it crashing down a valley. The high death toll raised widespread condemnation with the Law Society of Kenya even threatening to take the Traffic Commandant Samuel Kimaru to court for neglect of duty. The government is also considering banning Public Service Vehicles from plying their routes at night on account of the poor visibility it affords. President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo have personally vowed to bring those who flout traffic rules, including the officers who look the other way, to book.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 16:02:00 +0000