• Some residents opted to use boats to move into and out of the counties.
• Kilifi county commissioner Magu Mutindika and his Mombasa counterpart Gilbert Kitiyo were present with their officers at the roadblocks.
As the minute hand of his wristwatch ticked towards the 12-mark on Wednesday, Omar Mohammed stepped on the gas pedal.
The hour hand was effectively on the 7-mark. He was racing against time to get to Mombasa from Lamu county. The shuttle he was driving had developed a mechanical problem on the way but he had quickly fixed it.
The damage, however, had been done. It had eaten into his precious minutes.
“Do not worry, we will get there,” he sought to assure the three passengers he had on board.
They were all his relatives. He reached the Mtwapa roadblock a few minutes to 7pm, the start of the cessation of movement between Kilifi and Mombasa counties.
Kilifi county commissioner Magu Mutindika was already at the Mtwapa roadblock.
As Mohammed approached it, Mutindika's men signalled him to pass through. It was one minute to the start of the containment.
"Hurray!" Mohammed and his three relatives celebrated.
But they had celebrated too early. Just past Shimo La Tewa prison at the Shanzu Cess Station, there was another roadblock manned by Mombasa county security officers led by county commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo.
The roadblock had been erected at exactly 7pm. Mohammed was time-barred.
"He has to go back to Mtwapa to look for a place to stay for the next 21 days," said an officer who was manning the roadblock.
"But we are already in Mombasa county!" Mohammed protested, marking the beginning of a 10-minute argument with the officer.
Mutindika said most residents had complied except for "a few rogue ones".
He said Mohamed was already in Mombasa and would not be allowed to return to Kilifi. And so Mohammed and his relatives found themselves in 'no man's land'. They will have to spend the rest of the 21 days there, despite the fact that their home is in Bamburi, less than five kilometres away from Shanzu.
Several other people had to be turned away at both roadblocks as Mutindika and Kitiyo ensured enforcement of the cessation of movement across Kilifi and Mombasa counties.
Mohammed urged the government should consider offering alternative support to those who survive on daily wages.
"Now we cannot work for 21 days. How will we feed our families?" he lamented.
On Thursday, at a press conference in Joho's office, Kitiyo said they had received reports that people had turned to boats to sneak in and out of the two neighbouring counties.
"Please, let us try and adhere to the rules. Sneaking in and out of Mombasa using boats is endangering people's lives," he said.