Transport

Why Kenya needs to make a bold move towards green roads

cars

Is the country about to surprise the world by banning fuel cars? Quite unlikely. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Let’s enjoy some soothing dream.  Imagine that in place of the fuel stations that dot our roads, Kenya’s highways only have battery exchange or recharge points. 

You drive to any major town and the first thing you notice is an outsized signpost pointing to an emission-free parking zone. The signpost goes ahead to brag about the magnanimity of the area’s governor who built the free public parking bay for non-fuel cars.

You begin to appreciate how one thing may have led to the other. A new government had come to power three years ago on a clean environment platform.

Given that the shortcut to accepting every new product must always be paved with handouts, the State quickly scrapped all import taxes on electric cars and its accessories. Over the years, the prices of electric cars have fallen to the level of petroleum ones.

You realise you can’t proceed to the ultramodern parking bay because your car emits a lot of carbon. Officials want you to turn to the opposite direction and pay some Sh300 before your car can be allowed into an insecure public parking lot. Suddenly, the dream ends, and the mind is back to a familiar ground.

Being the host of the top global environmental agency — the United Nations Environment Programme —Kenya is always under pressure to lead the world by example in the fight against climate change.

Remember how Nakuru town shocked the country 12 years ago by banning smoking in public places despite a strong tide from cigarette manufacturers, then among the top national taxpayers?

What started off as a local authority bylaw would two years later be picked up by the defunct City Council of Nairobi before the Health ministry embraced it wholesale by enacting the Tobacco Control Act of 2008.

If that sounds too ancient to ring a bell, you may recall how Kenya was basking in glory early this month when Nairobi hosted the third United Nations Environment Assembly. Delegates took turns to praise the bold move Kenya took on August 28 to ban manufacture and use of plastic packaging.

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Is the country about to surprise the world by banning fuel cars? Quite unlikely. Countries such as Norway, India, Denmark, France and China have declared timelines of between 2020 and 2040 for phasing out fuel cars on their roads.

Rwanda, with which we share a common market in East Africa, has allowed Volkswagen to manufacture electric cars in its market.

Yet we still consume petroleum products in copious amounts that the government has to control its price lest inflation runs wild. The Energy Regulatory Commission must, for instance, share with us today the maximum pump prices for the next 30 days that start at midnight tomorrow. But we can’t rule Kenya out yet.

By recently asking the Kenya Bureau of Standards to prepare quality benchmarks for electric and hybrid cars, the Transport ministry is perhaps signalling changes ahead.