NTSA Mandates Refresher Courses for Frequent Drivers Starting July

The National Transport Safety Authority has rolled out a new requirement for drivers who spend most of their time on Kenyan roads. Starting in July, they will have to attend mandatory refresher training courses. NTSA Director General Nashon Kondiwa made the announcement in a recent interview.

Kondiwa explained that initial driving school training alone is not sufficient for professionals who drive daily. He drew comparisons with other fields. Doctors, engineers and similar experts undertake continuous professional development. Drivers should follow the same approach.

“From July, we want to train drivers afresh. In every profession, there’s what we call ‘professional development’... people go for refresher courses, so we want to really implement this for drivers that are continuously on the road,” Kondiwa said. He stressed that people cannot expect to retain everything learned years earlier in driving school.

The authority points to successful models in the European Union and Singapore. Those countries require regular retraining. Some drivers there have gone several years without accidents. NTSA aims to bring similar discipline to Kenyan roads.

Road safety statistics paint a worrying picture. So far this year, Kenya has recorded 2,150 road fatalities. That marks an 11 percent increase from the same period last year. Pedestrians make up the largest share with 836 deaths. Drivers account for 188 fatalities.

These figures come amid broader efforts by NTSA. The authority works with the Kenya National Highways Authority and Kenya Urban Roads Authority on the International Road Assessment Programme. It will rate roads on a star safety scale for different users.

Vehicle standards also face review. NTSA pushes for stricter engineering requirements. Last year alone, 4,400 people died on Kenyan roads. The economic cost reached an estimated Ksh450 billion in lost GDP. Some projections put the annual figure even higher.

Kondiwa highlighted that without major changes, Kenya could lose up to 10 percent of its GDP to road accidents by 2030. The refresher courses target commercial drivers in particular. PSV operators and truck drivers fall squarely in the group required to retrain.

The programme seeks to address human error. Many crashes stem from skills that fade over time or bad habits picked up on the job. Regular training should help reinforce safe practices and update drivers on new regulations and technologies.

NTSA has not yet released full details on how the courses will run. Questions remain about frequency, duration, costs and exact categories of drivers affected. The announcement signals a shift toward treating driving as a profession that demands ongoing education.

Enforcement will likely tie into existing systems. NTSA already operates demerit points and instant fines for violations. The instant fines system has faced its fair share of court hurdles. Refresher training could become a condition for licence renewal or PSV badge renewal for repeat offenders or high-mileage drivers.

This move forms part of a wider strategy. It combines training, infrastructure assessment and vehicle standards to tackle the country’s persistent road safety crisis. Implementation begins next month, giving drivers and operators little time to prepare.

Kenyans have mixed reactions online. Some welcome the focus on competence. Others worry about additional costs and bureaucracy for already struggling transport workers. NTSA will need to balance safety goals with practical realities on the ground.