NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 12 – Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) has partnered with National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to educate and sensitize road users on responsible drinking in order to enhance road safety in Kenya.
The partnership will involve the adoption of a Responsible Drinking Education Module, which will complement the curriculum for training and testing of Drivers and Instructors.
Speaking during the memorandum signing ceremony, KBL MD Jane Karuku said that KBL’s commitment to responsible drinking has been the basis of initiatives to encourage consumers of alcohol products to drink in moderation, appoint a designated driver or use a taxi/driver service rather than drive.
“As a responsible corporate citizen, we are keen on supporting the government’s effort to provide education and sensitization around drinking and driving. It is in recognition of this responsibility that we have partnered with NTSA to leverage on our DRINKiQ platform and introduce a module that seeks to inculcate the right behaviour with regards to alcohol consumption among licensed drivers”, said Jane Karuku.
According to NTSA statistics, about of 3,000 people lose their lives on the road every year with more than twice this number suffering from life-long injuries. Notably, those injured or killed are within the productive age bracket of 15 to 44 years.
NTSA Director General, George Njao, said that they are working with National Assembly on the regulatory framework for the Drunk Driving Rules that will enable a more robust enforcement platform on perpetrators. In addition, with the Traffic Rules (Driving School, Driving Instructors, and Driving Licences) Rules 2020 coming into effect from 23rd October, 2020, the education and sensitization programmes anticipated under this partnership shall be an added value to learners right from inception.
“With the support of KBL and through this partnership, we expect positive behaviour change among drivers. Drivers have a high level of responsibility and their actions can affect the lives of many people and is therefore, important that they acquire the requisite knowledge and skills.” said Mr. Njao.
DRINKiQ is Diageo’s branded responsible drinking platform, which is used to engage, inform and educate people, equipping them to make responsible decisions about their alcohol consumption, including in relation to driving.
The premise of DRINKiQ is that if people internalise understanding of what alcohol is, how it is processed and the different ways it can affect their bodies, that understanding will become an inherent influence for responsible drinking and responsible decisions related to drinking.
