Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Home
    • About Us
    • Digital Subscription
    • Advertisement
    • Contact Us
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    The Tennessee TribuneThe Tennessee Tribune
    Advertise With Us
    • Home
      • COVID-19 Resource Center
        • Dr. Henry Louis Gates’ PSA Radio
      • Featured
    • News
      • State
      • Local
      • National/International News
      • Global
      • Business
        • Commentary
        • Finance
        • Local Business
      • Investigative Stories
        • Affordable Housing
        • DCS Investigation
        • Gentrification
    • Editorial
      • National Politics
      • Local News
      • Local Editorial
      • Political Editorial
      • Editorial Cartoons
      • Cycle of Shame
    • Community
      • History
      • Tennessee
        • Chattanooga
        • Clarksville
        • Knoxville
        • Memphis
      • Public Notices
      • Women
        • Let’s Talk with Ms. June
    • Education
      • College
        • American Baptist College
        • Belmont University
        • Fisk
        • HBCU
        • Meharry
        • MTSU
        • University of Tennessee
        • TSU
        • Vanderbilt
      • Elementary
      • High School
    • Lifestyle
      • Art
      • Auto
      • Tribune Travel
      • Entertainment
        • 5 Questions With
        • Books
        • Events
        • Film Review
        • Local Entertainment
      • Family
      • Food
        • Drinks
      • Health & Wellness
      • Home & Garden
      • Featured Books
    • Religion
      • National Religion
      • Local Religion
      • Obituaries
        • National Obituaries
        • Local Obituaries
      • Faith Commentary
    • Sports
      • MLB
        • Sounds
      • NBA
      • NCAA
      • NFL
        • Predators
        • Titans
      • NHL
      • Other Sports
      • Golf
      • Professional Sports
      • Sports Commentary
      • Metro Sports
    • Media
      • Video
      • Photo Galleries
      • Take 10
      • Trending With The Tribune
    • Classified
    • Obituaries
      • Local Obituaries
      • National Obituaries
    The Tennessee TribuneThe Tennessee Tribune
    National/International News

    VIDEO: Truckers in 21-mile traffic jam for COVID-19 testing without food or water at Kenya/Uganda border

    zenger.newsBy zenger.newsMay 28, 2020Updated:July 3, 2020No Comments4 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Telegram Pinterest Tumblr Reddit Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    A 21-mile-long (35 km) column of trucks lined a major highway between Kenya and Uganda on Saturday, a sea of diesel engines and goods headed west but stopped at the border for time-consuming coronavirus tests.

    The drivers, stuck on portions of highway between Eldoret, Kenya and the border town of Malaba, told Zenger News that Kenyan authorities are denying them access to food, water and lodging. Most of them sleep in their trucks. There are no toilet facilities.

    Drivers with positive tests are turned back. Even for those who test negative, there’s no clear path to proceed. And the backup grows longer by the hour.

    “We have been tested and we are corona negative, but we are still being harassed,” said David Ng’etich, a long-haul driver. He had already come 575 miles (976 km) from Mombasa, passing through Nairobi and hitting a backup before the border.

    Now, he says, he’s stuck.

    The government of Kenya agreed with Uganda last week to test travelers at common points in both countries. Drivers who test negative get certificates allowing them to cross the border again without more tests, even though they could come into contact with a contagious person after crossing the border, and bring the virus back with their paperwork.

    As a 21-mile (35  km), days-long traffic jam slows trucks headed from Kenya to Uganda, drivers who test negative are issued travel passes. (Kelvin Ogome/Zenger)

    Truckers heading toward Uganda said they were forced to wait as long as 48 hours while the results of multiple tests were processed.

    Some say they would rather see the border closed completely—so they could go home instead of going nowhere.

    “We are not the problem. We are being harassed and called “corona” by the people we provide with goods. It is so sad, they better close the border,” said Ng’etich.

    Some truckers carry small appliances for cooking basic meals, but food is scarce. Although fresh water is unavailable, police are arresting entrepreneurs who attempt to sell water along the miles of traffic.

    “They stopped people who are workers, who are coming to help us, to sell for us drinking water. They told them ‘No!’” truck driver Philip Korir told Zenger. “They are going to be arrested. So they have been intimidated by our government.”

    Advertisement

    As a 21-mile (35 km) days-long traffic jam has clogged the Eldoret-Malaba highway in Kenya, truckers are forced to camp in place. One group is pictured on May 22, 2020. (Kelvin Ogome/Zenger)

    “I don’t know what kind of logic is that. We are human beings,” Korir said.

    Authorities in Uganda are also confiscating cookers at the border, citing security issues, according to truck driver John Omondi.

    “We are not allowed to enter hotels. We have no access to clean water,” Alhaji Abdulkarim Mwangwe, another trucker, said. Mwangwe spoke while sitting on the roadside.

    Uganda was the first African country to close its borders to curb the pandemic spread, followed by Kenya.

    COVID-19 testing on the Eldoret-Malaba highway at the Kenya-Uganda border stopped truck traffic in its tracks on May 22, 2020, preventing goods from reaching at least three countries. (Kelvin Ogome/Zenger)

    The major-highway congestion has choked off deliveries in Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

    “Can you imagine that revenue that is not entering the Ugandan market?” driver Peter Karanja Kamau asked. “That is not good. But the way they are treating us, it’s not reasonable.”

    “You can’t treat someone who’s carried you a million—a billion—shillings to Uganda, like a dog,” he said.

    (Edited by Ford Fischer)

    The post VIDEO: Truckers in 21-mile traffic jam for COVID-19 testing without food or water at Kenya/Uganda border appeared first on Zenger News.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    zenger.news
    • Website

    Related Posts

    Emmett Till National Monument May Be Removed Under Trump Admin

    June 28, 2025

    Black Americans Face Unequal Burden as U.S. Inches Closer to War

    June 22, 2025

    Juneteenth! Freedom Day

    June 19, 2025

    Emmy-winning journalist launches Juneteenth series

    June 19, 2025

    Donald Trump is the first president in 116 years to not be invited to the NAACP convention

    June 16, 2025

    The Department of Education is Collecting Delinquent Student Loan Debt

    April 29, 2025

    Comments are closed.

    Business

    Charlotte Knight Griffin Takes Office as TBA President-Elect

    June 30, 2025

    EXCLUSIVE OP-ED: President Joe Biden Commemorating Juneteenth

    June 19, 2025

    FUNdraising Good Times Report from Neighborhoods USA Conference in Jacksonville

    June 4, 2025
    1 2 3 … 384 Next
    Education
    Education

    Austin Peay’s MPH program receives $27K for childhood literacy initiative. Community LIFT Project to be implemented at Head Start centers this fall

    By Ethan SteinquestJune 30, 2025

    CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University’s Master of Public Health program is on a…

    TSU, State, reach agreement to reallocate $96M to school

    June 26, 2025

    TSU student lands prestigious internship at Harvard Medical School

    June 25, 2025

    FAMU stakeholders file lawsuit to prevent Marva Johnson’s confirmation as the university’s 13th President

    June 21, 2025
    The Tennessee Tribune
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • About Us
    • Digital Subscription
    • Store
    • Advertise With Us
    • Contact
    © 2025 The Tennessee Tribune - Site Designed by No Regret Media.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Our Spring Sale Has Started

    You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/