Covid testing generates unending lineups at the Kenya-Uganda border.
NCMP
January 20, 2022
It’s been the same setting for some days now. On Wednesday, a never-ending line of trucks was stopped at the Kenya-Uganda border.
On Wednesday, the normally bustling Eldoret-Malaba motorway came to a halt. Drivers line up in vehicles to be tested for COVID-19, some for the first time and others for the second. They must, in fact, take a test on either side of the border. This is a difficult scenario.
“The WHO (World Health Organization) might assist us by providing drivers with a one-of-a-kind certificate that allows them to travel freely across East Africa. This certificate would assist us in adhering to all of the measures necessary to safeguard ourselves and others from COVID-19. It would greatly facilitate our task.”
The traffic jam, which began many weeks ago, has now spread to 140 kilometers, causing delivery delays and a lack of understanding among long-distance truck drivers.
Damian Mavu, a truck driver, has already been stuck in traffic for three nights: “We test for COVID in Kenya and get a certificate before crossing into Uganda, where we are compelled to retest and pay.
That has become a problem because why should you pay when we have previously tested in Kenya? What is the difference between the testing equipment used in Kenya and Uganda? That is what we do not yet grasp.”
As trucks are trapped in tailbacks, Uganda is experiencing an oil scarcity, with fuel prices skyrocketing.
Truck drivers planned to protest testing on both sides of the border in May 2020. It resulted in the roadway being closed for over three weeks.
