TRUCK DRIVERS CAUGHT UP IN A 10-KM SNARL-UP IN MALABA
Long distance truck drivers have been stranded in a 10-kilometre traffic snarl-up from Kimaet in Bungoma County to the border town of Malaba in Busia County for over 15 hours.
Traffic snarl-ups between Kimaet and Malaba on Sunday.
Kenyan customs officials at the Malaba One Stop Border Post said the long jam was attributed to system upgrade on the Uganda side, which has since been dispensed with, noting that normalcy will return in the next few hours.
Addressing the press in Amagoro today (Sunday), a truck driver, Mr Mutisya Tavitha, said they arrived in Amagoro at 12 am last night and by 2pm on Sunday they had not made a single movement to confirm the magnitude of the matter.
” We are told the system is being upgraded on the Ugandan side of the border. We are not opposed to that, but Ugandan authorities should have found an alternative to prevent us from encountering the suffering and trauma we are encountering,” he said.
He urged Kenya and Ugandan governments to find a lasting solution to constant trucks pile up àlong the Northern corridors of Malaba and Busia in conformity with the East African Protocol that entails smooth flow of goods and services devoid Non tariff barriers.
” We have been stuck here for over 15 hours less obvious that our families need us. What happens to those who are in Kanduyi. How many days will they take to reach Malaba border? He wondered.
Mutisya claimed some officers demand money from drivers to expedite clearance while some businessmen in Kenya also influence the existence of artificial snarl-ups to boost their trade, urging Kenyan Prrsident William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni to convene a meeting to address these teething challenges facing long distance truck drivers.
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Another driver, Kasamba Suleiman, who was transporting a container from Mombasa to Kampala, urged the two countries to come to their rescue to enable them to continue with their journey to desired destinations.
“We have not taken bath for over two days, and neither have we eaten. If you want to eat,it forces you to spend Ksh200 to send a boda boda to Malaba Uganda to buy posho/matoke and meat worth Ush10,000. This is very expensive,” he said.
The worst jam that lasted several weeks was witnessed in January 2022 with traffic stretching over 70 kilometres following a protest by Kenyan truck drivers over Uganda’s move to implement mandatory Covid-19 testing at its border and impose a charge of $30 for the test.
Although Uganda suspended the testing, the traffic jam created by the drivers’ strike took more than a week to clear.
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