In Summary

• Waema says there are over 150 drivers being held in two quarantine facilities in Busia county, some beyond 14 days.
• Ten others were recently transferred to Lodwar from Nandapal, the border between Sudan and Kenya, after staying in a quarantine facility for over two months.

Long-distance truck drivers have complained of being held in quarantine facilities longer than necessary.

Kenya Long Distance Truck Drivers and Allied Workers union chairman Roman Waema on Tuesday told the Star there are over 150 drivers in two quarantine facilities in Busia county, some have been there beyond 14 days.

Ten others were recently transferred to Lodwar from Nandapal, the border between Sudan and Kenya after staying in a quarantine facility for over two months.

Muhktar Hassan, a truck driver, said at the Sudanese quarantine facility, their test results kept fluctuating from positive to negative, raising doubts about the effectiveness of the kits.

“After two months, they brought us to a quarantine facility in Lodwar behind the university and told us we will go for home-based care. But they are still holding us here,” Hassan said on the phone.

He said the 10 have families who depend on them and have been suffering for the last two months.

Waema said truckers are increasingly getting frustrated by government officers.

“If you keep a driver at a facility for longer than required because they asked questions, what do you expect their families to eat?” he posed.

Isaac Kirwa and Jacob Kamau are two of the drivers who have stayed for over 34 days at the Agricultural Training Centre quarantine facility in Busia county.

On Monday, they told the Star on the phone they have been tested five times each.

Kirwa said he was tested for the first time on June 15, a day after he was taken to the facility. The result was negative.

“I was then tested on June 19, then July 2, July 7 and July 13. All this time, the results were given to me on a piece of paper that had no logo or stamp and had the wrong dates,” Kirwa said.

He noted that after he questioned the authenticity of the results based on the paper they were written on, he was told he will stay at the facility longer.

“My employer knows I am in a quarantine facility. If I take to him a piece of paper with some words written on it, how will he believe I was really in a quarantine facility?” he posed.

Kamau, who has also been at the facility for 34 days, said he also underwent the same predicament.

“The food, which is the only thing they give us, is bad. If you complain, they mark you and you will be here longer than required,” he said.

Busia’s Universal Health Coverage director David Mukabi, who is also the coordinator of the county Covid-19 task force told the Star that Kirwa and Kamau’s cases have been unusual because their results keep on changing.

“We are guided by the results. We cannot release someone whose results turn positive. We test them after every five days,” Mukabi said on the phone.

He said these are not the only cases that have stayed longer than expected in a quarantine facility.

“There are other cases in other counties. We are talking to our colleagues in Uasin Gishu to assess the homes of these two so that we can release them for home-based care, if they meet the standards,” Mukabi said.

He said the results they give have always been on official documents with government logo on them. “If there are results that do not have government logos, then I need to look into it,” he said.

Jomvu MP Badi Twalib said it is unfair to mistreat essential service providers such as truck drivers who transport food items to different parts of the country and the East African Community.

“The government should put a stop to this. Health CS Mutahi Kagwe should intervene and see to it that these drivers are released so they can continue providing for their families,” Twalib told the Star on the phone.

He praised the Mombasa government for addressing concerns by the truck drivers.

“The drivers had a problem in Mombasa but that was resolved. It is disheartening to see that now the problem is coming from Busia,” Twalib said.

He called on the Busia leaders to intervene and ensure all drivers are treated with respect at the quarantine facilities in the county.

Edited by A.N

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