Kenya: More Pedestrians Arrested As NTSA Intensifies Footbridge Crackdown

What the report says

Capital FM, in a report distributed by AllAfrica, says Kenya’s National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the National Police stepped up enforcement on Tuesday against pedestrians crossing major roads away from designated points. The operation led to additional arrests near the General Motors (GM) footbridge in Nairobi, where authorities said some people crossed the road instead of using the bridge.

According to the report, NTSA said the pedestrians arrested during the morning operation had interfered with traffic flow and exposed themselves and other road users to danger. The agency said the suspects were expected to appear in court later. NTSA also warned that crossing at undesignated locations is unlawful and urged pedestrians to use footbridges and marked crossings consistently.

The GM footbridge arrests followed a similar enforcement action a day earlier at the Buruburu Interchange, where NTSA said 35 pedestrians were arrested after allegedly ignoring an available footbridge on a busy highway. The authority described the operations as part of a broader nationwide road safety campaign intended to improve compliance with traffic rules and reduce pedestrian fatalities.

The development matters because pedestrian safety remains a major concern on Kenya’s busy urban roads, especially in Nairobi, where high traffic volumes and unsafe crossing habits can create risks for walkers, drivers and passengers. While the report presents NTSA’s position that walking extra distance to a crossing point can prevent serious crashes, the article does not include comments from those arrested or from pedestrian-safety advocates.