Namanga residents urge Government to isolate truck drivers

Residents of Namanga in Kajiado County have appealed to the Government to restrict movement of truck drivers at the border town as they await COVID-19 test results.

The residents said truck drivers are mingling with the locals even as they wait for their results which take around four to five days thus exposing them to the risk of contracting Coronavirus.

Keria ole Mentina, a resident of Namanga, urged the government to assign the truck drivers a specific area where they can stay as they await Covid-19 clearance certificates so that they do not mingle with the residents.

Mentina said the truck drivers plying the Kenya-Tanzania route eat at the hotels in the town and sleep in the lodgings as they await their results thus putting the residents at the risk of exposure.

John Motonga, a businessman at the town said the business community is also at a high risk of contracting the virus as they serve all customers from both Kenya and Tanzania and it is hard to pinpoint who has the virus and who does not.

He called on security officials to tighten security at the border as citizens from both countries continue to conduct trade through illegal routes.

Another resident Alex Meritei called for mass testing of Namanga residents adding that he feared many people have already been exposed to the virus.

Meritei said truck drivers are normally in contact with many people as they move from one place to another while awaiting clearance and mass testing would ensure that those already infected are isolated and quarantined so as to stop further spread of the virus.

He urged locals to observe the Ministry of Health guidelines to keep Corona at bay adding that many people do not observe social distancing or wear face masks properly.

Truck drivers on the other hand called on the Government to speed up plans to install a mobile Covid -19 laboratory at the border Post to shorten the waiting period.

Abdi Yusuf, a Tanzanian truck driver revealed that the truck drivers eat and sleep in one place saying he has been at the border town for three days since his test were taken to KEMRI Nairobi for further analysis.