The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) in partnership with the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) on Wednesday trained Nyeri county Boda boda riders on road safety.
The training held at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology was meant to sensitize the operators on the importance of acquiring an insurance cover.
Speaking during the occasion, IRA head of communications Noella Mutanda pointed out on the importance of conducting an outreach programme to the operators who play a major role in the transport sector.
“We know that the transport sector is one of the major consumers of insurance and the Boda boda riders are part of that so there is need for them to have an insurance cover both for themselves and the passengers they carry,” said Mutanda
She refuted claims that the operators are being forced to acquire comprehensive insurance adding that it was misinformation and the basic insurance policy was the third party insurance and any other form is and should be optional.
Speaking during the same occasion, NTSA Central regional manager Bora Guyo said that partnering with the IRA was an important milestone and that the NTSA will play a role in educating the operators on the various ways to ensure that road safety is attained in their operations.
“We want to educate them so that we can ensure that road accidents and clashes are greatly reduced,” Guyo said
He added that his authority will collaborate with the Traffic Police officers to get stop criminals in the Boda boda sector who are mainly associated with rampant cases of insecurity.
On the other hand, Boda boda operators lauded the programme saying that they were ready to embrace and put into practice the training skills they will acquire.
The operators led by their Nyeri county chairman Charles Ndegwa expressed their gratitude to the two organizations for aiding them amidst the rampant Boda boda accidents across the country. Ndegwa added that with the county having been ranked 12th countrywide with the number of accidents, they were aspiring to partner with relevant firms to lower the cases.
The chairman who led a group of about 100 Boda boda leaders from the various wards across the region attributed most accidents to ignorance and illiteracy among the Boda boda riders.
“We will extend the training to the various operators on the ground once we are through with the training,” he added.
He at the same time he called upon the IRA to provide them with the cheapest insurance policy to ensure that they are covered.
By Evans Ngatia
