PS Omollo: New urban traffic policing system 25% complete

Designs for a new policing system seeking to address Kenya’s rapidly growing urban population and mounting traffic congestion are progressing steadily, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo has said.

In a statement issued after a meeting with officials from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), Omollo said the initiative seeks to modernise traffic management and strengthen the country’s road safety framework through a structured partnership.

“We are currently studying models such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Police to design a system that can handle our growing urban population and heavy traffic flows,” he said.

The reforms form part of the Project for Strengthening the Safe-System Approach to Road Traffic Accidents in Kenya (2025–2028), a three-year partnership between the National Police Service (NPS) and Jica that was launched in May last year.

The initiative seeks to significantly reduce road fatalities by integrating interventions targeting human behaviour, vehicle safety and road infrastructure design.

Omollo said t through collaboration between the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Transport and Jica, Kenyan police officers are already undergoing specialised training under the Kenya–Japan Safe System Approach to Road Traffic Accidents Project.

The JICA Kenya chief representative Shinkawa Makoto briefed the PS on the progress of the three-year project, which is being implemented by the National Police Service and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA). 

Omollo said one of the key outcomes of the project will be the introduction of a digitised traffic accident reporting system, expected to improve data collection, analysis and response strategies.

The project adopts the globally recognised “Safe-System Approach,” which assumes that human error is inevitable and therefore designs transport systems in a way that ensures crashes do not result in death or serious injury.

By focusing on safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds and safer road users, the model seeks to minimise the severity of accidents even when mistakes occur.

Implementation strategies include leveraging big data and digital intelligence for road safety management, as well as strengthening the capacity of traffic police officers to enforce regulations and respond effectively to incidents.

The initiative is anchored within the Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Governments of Japan and the Republic of Kenya and is expected to create a sustainable, long-term framework for reducing road accidents by drawing on Japanese expertise in traffic safety.

Omollo’s remarks come barely a month after a week-long training programme on strengthening the Safe-System Approach concluded on January 27 in Tokyo, Japan.

The programme was conducted by Jica and targeted senior police officers and other key partners responsible for shaping road safety policies and strategies.

The closing ceremony was attended by Jica’s head of traffic safety Yasuhiro Suhara, Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja, Deputy Inspector-General of the Kenya Police Service Eliud Lagat.