• Trucks form queues as long as 50 kilometres awaiting clearance.
• Transport CS says similar issue that had been experienced at the Namanga border had been resolved.
Image: EMOJONG OSERE
Efforts have been put in place to clear long queues of long-distance trucks experienced at the Malaba border point.
Various stakeholders at the border point including Port Health officials, KRA officials and security personnel will now be required to work 24 hours to ensure the backlog is cleared.
The problem had led to queues as long as 50 kilometres.
Transport CS James Macharia on Tuesday said a similar issue that had been experienced at the Namanga border had been resolved after a meeting among officials from both states.
According to the CS, the problem at Namanga was a result of disparity with regard to the testing protocols.
But last week, a delegation from Kenya comprising Health CAS Rashid Aman and other senior government officers - three regional coordinators from Coast, Nyanza and Rift Valley - met counterparts on the side of Tanzania to deliberate on the matter.
“We insisted that anybody coming through our borders had to be tested using the agreed WHO standards and that was agreed on. That’s why from last week, the trucks carrying essential cargo started flowing through,” Macharia said.
At the end of the day, they signed an MoU confirming that we had agreed on the testing protocols, he said.
The problem at the Busia border, however, had been brought about by defiant truckers who had packed their trucks at the border in an effort to have their grievances heard.
“We have a very long queue of trucks, not because of differences of testing protocols between us and Uganda as we have been following the same protocols in terms of the medical process of testing the virus,” Macharia said.
He noted that a few drivers had incited each other and that three blocked the entry of the border thereby creating a queue of about 50km.
On Tuesday, the government identified the inciters.
“We have told those people who are causing problems that you do not have to drive towards the border. If you feel you have grievances in terms of entering Uganda then don’t leave your point of departure,” he said.
The CS added, “Don’t collect cargo in Mombasa only for you to go there and cause confusion, we will not accept that and we have identified the people who are causing these problems and that matter is being dealt with.”
EAC Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed said the issue at Malaba border is an immediate and serious issue that the government is dealing with.
He said that trade within EAC remains a critical aspect of the EAC economies' success story.
“The importance of the border is quite critical for us. Initially, it would take three days for truckers to travel along the corridor, but the period has now doubled with the introduction of corona tests,” Mohamed said.
The 50km stretch is now becoming a security threat.
Data from Tuesday’s briefing shows that the number of positive cases in the country now stands at 1,348 after 62 more cases were confirmed by the ministry in a day.
The 62 were from 2,293 samples tested in a day. The total number of tests conducted since the first case is now 64,264.
Three more people were discharged from the hospital, bringing the total number of patients who have successfully undergone treatment and recovered at 405.
The new cases are aged between six years and 64 years, comprising 45 men and 17 women.
Out of the total confirmed cases, 23 are from Nairobi while 16 are from Mombasa. Kwale had eight cases, Kiambu six while Kajiado and Kitui recorded six and three cases. respectively.
Edited by R.Wamochie