Transporters have raised concern over the seizure of 200 Kenyan trucks by Ugandan authorities over their axle weight. The Kenya Transport Association (KTA) yesterday said the trucks have been detained in Busitema, about 10km from Busia town for four days. “The Ugandan authorities are holding the trucks for apparently exceeding the axle load weight. Apparently, the Ugandan authorities decided to use the axle load limit to weigh the trucks yet, as the East Africa Community, it was agreed to use the Gross Vehicle Weight,” said CEO Jane Njeru at KTA offices in Mombasa.
KTA chairman Paul Maiyo, the recently appointed Chairman of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (FESARTA), said the use of axle load limit for weighing trucks is outdated and is unfair to truck and cargo owners. Maiyo said the Transport and the East Africa Community ministries should act fast to ensure the release of the trucks. He said the move by Uganda will adversely interfere with the Rapid Results Initiative launched by Transport PS Cyrus Njiru to ease congestion at the Mombasa port. “It is not fair for Uganda to go against the EAC agreement. If the Ugandan government wants to implement something, it should consult first. Now for four days our drivers are in the bush,” he said.
Njeru said it would be a big task to recover the four days lost in clearing cargo at the port due to the situation in Uganda. “This has come at a time when we are trying to decongest the port. But we cannot talk about RRI when we have lost four days already. How are we going to recover that?” posed Njeru.
Barney Curtis, FESARTA’s executive director, said that he would address the issue through the offices of the East African Community. This is typical of the non-tariff barriers experienced in Africa, which are counter-productive to intraregional trade and economic development, where traffic officials go against the letter and spirit of agreements reached by their respective governments.