Rwanda National Police

Heads of transport agencies have been reminded to monitor behaviors of their drivers and to ensure that they abide by the traffic rules and regulations.

The call was made by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jean Marie Vianney Ndushabandi, the spokesperson for Traffic and Road Safety department while speaking to heads of drivers’ cooperatives at the Rwanda National Police (RNP) headquarters in Kacyiru. This was during the training of the second batch of heads of transport cooperatives operating in the City of Kigali.

SSP Ndushabandi said that some drivers, especially of public and transit vehicles, are fond of neglecting traffic rules and causing fatal accidents.

“Every traffic signpost should be respected, and we expected that from here what you have learned will bring change to ensure the safety of your passengers and every road user,” SSP Ndushabandi said. “It is one thing to learn and understand road safety rules, but another thing to constantly apply them.”

“You are leaders of drivers’ cooperatives; you have to do continuous monitoring and inspection of your drivers. Give them time to rest, check if they are not drunk or if their behaviors are adequate and above all make sure your vehicles are roadworthy. Tell your drivers to concentrate, not to use phones while driving,” he added.

“There are government’s policies that intend to reduce accidents like speed governor, traffic signals and road posts, tell drivers to follow them, accidents will decrease,” SSP Ndushabandi added.

The spokesperson noted that most accidents are preventable, if drivers change their behaviors.
The consequences of accidents, he said, also affect drivers and owners of automobiles involved.

Jean de Dieu Shyaka, the Operation Manager for Kigali Coach Company, said the training will facilitate them in managing their drivers.

“When our drivers misbehave or are involved in accidents we lose many things, not only people’s lives but also we experience financial losses, vehicles and infrastructure are destroyed. We will share with our drivers and put into practice what we learned here,” Shyaka said.

The training was in line with the ongoing year-long road safety campaign—Gerayo Amahoro. It looked at professionalism and customer care, the role of technology in transport sector, first aid and role of insurance.

The one-day training was facilitated by RNP, Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory Authority (RURA), Special Guarantee Fund (SFG) and Healthy People Rwanda (HPR), a local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that partly, promotes road safety and first aid in Rwanda.

The training will also be extended to other provinces before it is extended to drivers.

Gerayo Amahoro is an RNP 52-week road safety campaign that aims at changing human behaviors and reducing road accidents as they take many lives. At least one person dies in road crashes every day.