By Lazarus Maitha
Over 200 drivers transporting motor vehicle units from Mombasa to Uganda and South Sudan have been stranded at a police roadblock in Bonje area where they were stopped over allegations of operating in contravention of coronavirus containment measures.
The drivers said they have not been allowed to proceed beyond the Mombasa border at the Bonje roadblock since Friday last week, a situation they said has left more than 200 drivers and 250 vehicle units stuck.
“These vehicles are under cargo and a supposed to go to Uganda. What is more puzzling is why we were cleared by the government to leave the port of Mombasa if the same government was coming to stop us here at the roadblock,” said Mohammed Hussein, a convoy leader of units destined for Uganda.
Police at the roadblock said the drivers have allegedly been contravening the movement cessation order by sneaking passengers from Mombasa to and from other counties contrary to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive that declared no movement in or out of Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale and Nairobi for 21 days.
“We are not going to sit and watch the orders violated just like that…you people have been sneaking passengers to other counties and blames are coming back to us,” a police officer manning the roadblock told the drivers on Saturday, April 18.
However, the drivers have denied the claims as false allegations, saying that they have been keen to observe all the guidelines that have been put in place.
“I can swear by the name of God, none of us has been ferrying passengers because we know the risk of being found contravening the orders. If you are taken to court they slap you with hefty fines between Sh30,000 and Sh80,000. None of us is dumb enough to risk to that extent because of Sh50 or a few hundreds,” said one of the drivers “We are stranded here without salaries and we have families to feed.”
According to the drivers, once they are cleared by Kenya Revenue Authority to leave the port, they are not allowed to return.
This comes at a time when Covid-19 cases in East Africa are soaring and governments enforce strict measures to control movement.
Four days ago, Ugandan reported another positive case of a 38-year-old Ugandan male cargo transporter who arrived from Kenya via the Malaba border on April 12.
