KAIKAI’S KICKER: Yes, block all overlapping drivers and fight for sanity on our roads

On my kicker today, I cede the platform to an unidentified group of law-abiding Kenyans, who recently did more than their bit in enforcing simple traffic rules. In a city where overlapping drivers have become something of a scourge, these brave Kenyans deserve particular commendation for demanding common sense of the drivers involved. One unidentified lady was particularly outstanding for her don’t-even-take-notice stance against a rogue, overlapping driver.

I don’t know how that episode ended, but up to that point, we could see there was a stalemate. Mindless overlapping drivers is commonplace especially on the streets of Nairobi. Every rush hour, it hits like a sudden epidemic. Primitive instincts take over the steering wheels as rogue drivers switch into the survival-for-the-fittest mode. Reason is thrown to the boot as brawn becomes the power behind the driving.

The overlapping epidemic is so widespread that all categories of drivers are represented. Leading the pack are the VIP drivers – mostly those ferrying senior government officials that include Cabinet Secretaries and chiefs of this and that among others. Then come private motorists with different types of cars ranging from luxury SUVs to small taxi cabs. To crown it all; the matatus of different sizes – we have the 14 seaters, the spruced up nganyas and the old-type buses among others. Out of all these emerge a community of some of Nairobi’s most regressive drivers that thrive in observing no laws nor rules when it comes to the use of roads.

Authorities have seemingly given up on these overlapping drivers. They let them reign as they wish, and that translates to a nightmare for the majority of Nairobi drivers who still believe driving is guided by basic civility. As these rogue elements rule the roads in Nairobi, the question begs; who will enforce law and order? When private vehicles and matatus drive on the sidewalks, mount pavements with impunity; who is supposed to act? Who will stop them?

Is it now our formal national attitude that the right of way belongs to the most aggressive drivers amongst us? For a city priding itself as the regional economic hub in East Africa, the home of the largest gathering of diplomats in the region, and yeah that misplaced notion of a Singapore – overlapping drivers are such a disservice to Nairobi. With their caveman instincts, the only point they truly drive home is that archaeological proposition that Kenya is the cradle of humanity.

In the absence of official action against the bad-mannered drivers in Nairobi, random acts of brave and conscientious citizens must be warmly applauded. And so, bravo to that lady and the Kenyans that joined her in doing the sensible thing! And to every Kenyan driver whose sanity is tested every morning or evening by the insane overlapping drivers, you now know what to do; don’t you?

That is my kicker.