•The drivers were also protesting a decision by Uganda to scale down the number of days after which the drivers were expected to test for Covid-19 from 14 to seven.
•On Tuesday, the drivers said they had resumed work with immediate effect.
Image: EMOJONG OSERE
Truckers have called off their strike after Uganda suspended the Sh3,600 Covid-19 testing fees.
The drivers plying the Northern corridor went on strike on Monday last week to protest a decision by the Ugandan government to introduce a Covid-19 testing fee for truckers entering the landlocked country.
The drivers were also protesting a decision by Uganda to scale down the number of days after which they were expected to test for Covid-19 from 14 to seven.
The strike ended after 11 days.
On Tuesday, the drivers said they had resumed work with immediate effect.
They lauded the Ugandan government for its decision to suspend the fees besides agreeing to subject the truckers to testing for Covid-19 after every 14 days and not seven days.
A meeting by government officials and other stakeholders in the cross border cargo transport business from all the EAC member states resolved to end the strike for the region to resume inter-state business.
Among the resolutions, was the payment of the Sh3,600 that cargo drivers paid to facilitate their screening against Covid-19 be lifted for seven days.
Uganda, after the seven days the truckers said, would be free to reintroduce the fee. However, it will not be mandatory for the tuckers to test for Covid-19 while in Uganda.
Drivers with genuine negative certificates from other EAC countries will be allowed to cross into Uganda without necessarily undergoing any other Covid-19 tests.
Initially, truckers had to be tested in Malaba, Uganda irrespective of whether they had valid Covid-19 negative certificates from Kenya or any other EAC member state.
Roman Waema, Kenya Long Distance Trucker Drivers Union secretary general, said normal cross-border cargo transport operations will now resume.
“We read something fishy in their decision to test for Covid-19 among truck drivers after every seven days. Let them respect the rights of truck drivers and not only look at the profits they want to make,” Waema said.
“From today, truck drivers will be tested for free for the next seven days while in Uganda. Uganda can then reintroduce testing fees but it will not be mandatory for truck drivers to test while in Uganda.”
The truckers had vowed that cross border cargo delivery operations will not resume until the Ugandan government scraps off the fee they described as exploitative.
They said the truckers are subjected to mandatory Covid-19 testing on the Ugandan side of the border irrespective of whether the drivers have valid Covid-19 certificates or not.
Those with valid certificates, the cargo transporters said, have to undergo another Covid-19 testing in Uganda before being allowed to proceed with the journey to their respective destinations.
The strike threatened to hurt exports and imports between the two countries, and Uganda's exports to international markets.
Uganda accounts for 83.2 per cent of transit cargo through the port of Mombasa.
South Sudan takes up 9.9 per cent while DR Congo, Tanzania and Rwanda account for 7.2 per cent, 3.2 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
Image: EMOJONG OSERE