On Tuesday, Kenya's First Lady Rachel Ruto rose early and, after her usual devotional routine, hopped on her eco-friendly bicycle for a 10.8km ride from State House to the United Nations (UN) office in Gigiri, Nairobi.
On arrival, she and about 30 other cyclists who accompanied her were welcomed at a small 'welcome ceremony' by the Global Alliance of Cities for Road Safety (ACROS), a platform for capacity building, city exchange and technical advice on road safety.
“I love cycling,” Ms Ruto started off.
“Let me tell you, every time I ride, I go back to Kakamega, to the little girl who would ride down the dusty roads with her friends sharing the few bicycles we had. We would use our bare feet as brakes and it was well worth it and those, for me, remain some of my happiest memories. It doesn’t matter how many times I fell, but the joy it gave me was undeniable,” she told delegates who had been waiting to welcome her for the second United Nations Habitat Assembly dubbed #UNHA2, where she later grace the inaugural First Lady Roundtable at the second UN-Habitat Assembly.
“Whenever my mother sent me to the market, I would take my bicycle and dash with utmost speed and on my way back, I would pass by grandparent’s house and take some mursik, without getting late, thanks to my bike.”
The First Lady added that as a mother, it is amazing how the first gift every parent wants to give their child is a little tricycle.
“We are always very proud when we see them ride without any help. Indeed, cycling comes naturally to most of us, despite our age and gender,” she highlighted.
This is why Ms Ruto is passionately pushing for safe cycling; that motorists respect cyclists and cyclists respect motorists.
“Too many cyclists have, unfortunately, lost their lives on our roads.
“We need to cultivate a culture where we care a lot more about each other. We come to the road for different reasons; for some it is for leisure and for others it is their means to work, while others cycle to get their produce to nearby markets,” the First Lady pointed out.
“Thinking of what cyclists have to contend with while cycling on our roads, we can only say a prayer of thanks, every time we get home safely.”
Riding a bike contributes to our health since it represents an exercise that improves physical condition, strengthens the heart, the immune system, the respiratory system, the metabolism and helps with constipation.
Cycling also helps mental and emotional balance, not only because of the calm that good physical health generates but also because the use of the bike reduces noise pollution considerably thus generating healthy environments that reduce the levels of stress caused by cars.
“As we rode here, apart from burning some calories, our endorphins kept our spirits high.
How we wish this happiness would be without any stress factor on the roads,” she said.
“'Share The Road’ advocates safe and respectful sharing of the road between motorised and non-motorized road users.
“Our aim is to raise awareness of the importance of cycling and its contribution towards achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3) which advocates good health and wellbeing, enhances personal health and offers numerous health benefits including improving cardiovascular fitness and boosting mental health,” said Ms Ruto.
According to Ms Ruto, SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities is achievable through cycling as an efficient means of transportation that reduces traffic congestion in cities while SDG 13, which focusses on climate action, aligns to the global climate goal — net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
She said: “Together, we can build a society that values sustainable transportation, promotes social equality, and fosters a sense of togetherness.
“This is why we are privileged to partner with the United Nations to launch the Global Alliance of Cities for Road Safety. It’s my hope that this launch will encourage more people to take up cycling and make our roads safer for cyclists.”
The UN observes that road safety has become one of the biggest public health and safety challenges which countries in Africa and the Arab region currently face with regional rates of 26.6 and 17.9 deaths per 100,000 population, respectively.
“This situation is particularly alarming for vulnerable groups due to their age, gender, disability or poverty,” says the report.
