June 6, 2016
Truck drivers block Mombasa road in protest against insecurity and the high levels of police harassment they experience on the roadway.
Truck drivers have blocked a section of Mombasa road, around mlolongo, as part of a “peaceful demonstration” to decry insecurity and harassment on the highways.
The long distance truck drivers have defied orders from the police, warning them against blocking the road.
The head of the Kenyan Truck Drivers Group, Mr Hassan Kabeberi Abdallah,had yesterday said that about 3,000 trucks will block the Naivasha-Nakuru highway at Kikopey in Gilgil; the Eldoret-Malaba highway at Jua Kali in Eldoret; and the Busia-Kisumu highway at Sega, until their demands are met.
Top on their demands is for the government to provide police escort for all Lories driving into South Sudan.
“We have lost 37 drivers since January 2016 while on duty in South Sudan with the recent case a few weeks back when one of our drivers was killed after being shot in the head,” said Abdalla.
The incident he is referring to went viral on social media two weeks ago, following the grisly images of the Kenyan truck driver who was shot on the head and left on the truck he was driving in south Sudan. Kenyans condemned the incident, with a good number of people sharing their scary experiences in the war torn nation.
The truck drivers are also calling or the Kenyan ambassador in South Sudan to be replaced as he is not efficient and also want the government to tackle the massive corruption on the road blocks where police ask for sh 50 per track per trip, which eventually amounts to sh 4,000.
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