By Okong’o Oduya
Kenya- Uganda border is officially closed to manage the spread of COVID19.
Busia county commissioner Joseph Kanyiri said the border will remain closed for the next 30 days or more depending on the magnitude of the situation.
Addressing the media in Busia, Kanyiri said nobody from Kenya will be allowed to Uganda and vise versa for the better of both countries.
“We want to inform Kenyans that the border is closed, to human traffic. We are doing this in the interest of Kenyans as well as the Ugandans,” he said.
He called upon those who are planning to travel to Kampala from Kenya to terminate their journey calling upon bus companies operating from Kenya, Uganda and beyond to cancel the bookings until further notice.
“Nobody is gaining entry to Kenya from Uganda and nobody is gaining entry in Uganda from Kenya, therefore those that have booked journeys to travel to Kampala we want to communicate to them to terminate their journeys wherever they are, less they come and find themselves stranded in Busia,” he said
He insisted that Kenya will not allow any citizen from the countries that have reported COVID19 virus within its boundaries.
He warned those on foot and boda boda operators from Kenya who may be tempted to use the ungazetted route to Uganda, not to dare lest being arrested in Uganda, by the Ugandan law enforcers, put to quarantine forcefully for 14 days at their cost, which will be expensive for them to manage.
The commissioner advised people of Busia to be disciplined enough and follow government directions by avoiding social gathering such as weddings ceremonies, churches, and funerals among others.
He, however, clarified that only cargo trucks with 2 crew onboard will be allowed to cross to and from Uganda but on their return, they will be required to sign a self-quarantine form at port health facilities at the border to track them for some time as they monitor their health condition.
“Through consolation with our border management committees at the once stop border points Busia and Malaba, trucks ferrying goods to and from Uganda will continue to transit at our border points with only 2 crew, the driver and his conductor if he has one, we argue the drivers not to get any passenger and purport that is a conductor for the truck,” he said
Kanyiri banned all the market days in Busia County to prevent people meeting in one place at once in the name of selling and buying of goods advising them to buy foodstuff or other necessities in large quantities to avoid going to market places.
“We are urging our citizens from this part of the country to buy what they need in sufficient quantity and not frequent market places every other minute; they are exposing themselves to chances of being infected.
Those days popularly referred to as market days, are no longer going to take place, but the normal market places will be there where people can buy one or two things, but there need to adhere to the measures in place to combat the virus,” he said
The County commissioner also ordered as from Monday 23rd all clubs and social joints in Busia will be required to operate between 5pm to 7:30pm weekdays and 2 pm to 7:30 on weekends and anyone going against the order will be arrested and prosecuted.
This measure takes effect as Kenya reports 8 more cases of coronavirus bringing the total to fifteen confirmed cases in Kenya.
