Covid-19 mandatory vaccination directive remains suspended

The High Court order suspending the government directive that required everybody seeking in-person services from the government to be fully vaccinated has been upheld.

When the hearing of the matter resumed on Tuesday, Justice Antony Mrima consolidated all the five petitions challenging the government decision.

The government had also sought to prevent those not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 from entering public places such as national parks, bars, and restaurants.

The petitions filed termed the directive tyrannical and a gross violation of the constitution, with one of the petitioners Enock Aura claiming that the government had entered into highly secretive agreements with international companies for the sale of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Another prayer sought by a petitioner represented by lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui is to have the Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe declared unfit to hold office for violating chapter 6 of the constitution on leadership and Integrity.

The Health CS and other respondents now have 14 days to file and serve their responses and the petitioners are at liberty to file any supplementary submissions within 7 days.

The case will be heard on the 1st of February.

Elsewhere, Protesting truck drivers at Malaba One Stop Border Post have vowed not to resume cross-border operations until the Sh3, 600 Covid-19 testing fee Ugandan authorities have introduced is scrapped off.

The drivers who operate along the busy Northern corridor told the press on Tuesday that they will only end the strike that begun on Monday, once the Ugandan government rescinds its decision to introduce the testing fee for all truck drivers entering Uganda.

The truckers faulted the decision to impose the levy from December 30,  2021 saying it is exploitative and against the spirit of the East African Community.

They wondered why they were being subjected to mandatory Covid-19 testing on the Ugandan side of the border irrespective of whether one has a valid Covid-19 certificate or not.

“Those with valid certificates have to undergo another testing in Uganda before being allowed to proceed with the journey to their respective destinations. We get tested here in Kenya, but when we cross with the results into Uganda we are told the results are invalid. That is why we have decided to suspend our operations into Uganda. We want to know why truck drivers despite having valid Covid-19 certificates must undergo another testing which comes at a fee of  Sh3,600. What is baffling is that we pay the money and we don’t get the results. After payment we are issued with receipts and ordered to continue with the journey. We don’t get the results,” Maseve Mutisya who transports cargo between Mombasa and Kampala disclosed to the press.

The truckers also faulted the Ugandan authorities’ decision to subject them to Covid-19 testing after every seven days unlike the previous fourteen days.

They noted that truckers’ Covid-19 test is valid for 14 days after which they are supposed to take a fresh test.

“Testing in Uganda is done after every seven days instead of 14 days. Why? As truck drivers we will not tolerate this state of affairs. No truck driver will go to Uganda until this mistreatment stops,”Mutisya further stated.

Ibrahim Ahmed, another trucker reiterated Mutisya’s sentiments urging concerned Kenyan authorities to engage  their Ugandan counterparts to solve the impasse, which risks paralyzing trade between Kenya and her neighbours.

“We have failed to know why the government is not helping us. The government should intervene and help us get out of this mess. We have been mistreated for a long time on this route. Before we went on strike we presented our complaints to Ugandan Port Health officials and they told us they do not have the powers to suspend payment for Covid-19 testing fees. We have therefore gone on strike and if they want to come and take their containers from Malaba Kenya let them come,”Ahmed said.

Malaba Kenya Transporters Association secretary Simon Omondi said the exploitative decisions by Ugandan authorities are unwarranted and must be addressed urgently.

“Drivers travelling to as far as South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo must test before returning to Kenya because some of them spend more than seven days before coming back to Kenya.

“That means for every trip across Uganda they must pay Sh7,200 for testing yet they do not receive test results. They must test in Kenya for them to receive certificates which Uganda officials claim are fake.

This is robbery without violence because you cannot take money from somebody in the name of testing and you do not issue any certificate showing that the driver has been tested. They are telling us that the Covid-19 certificates we get from the Kenyan government are fake, they want theirs.

But again after paying and testing, you do not receive the certificate. They tell you to go on with the journey. We want the Kenyan ministry of Health to intervene and save us from this mistreatment,” Omondi said adding that unlike cargo trucks other vehicles will continue leaving and entering Kenya.

A prolonged strike will negatively impact on trade between Kenya and its neighbours. Statistics indicate that Uganda accounts for 83.2 per cent of transit cargo through the port of Mombasa, while South Sudan takes up 9.9 per cent, while DR Congo, Tanzania and Rwanda account for 7.2 per cent, 3.2 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively.

In May last year, Kenyan transporters vowed not to pay the required Covid-19 testing fee for long distance truck drivers and paralyzed operations between Kenya and Uganda.