This archive report was first published on 11 June 2020.
Kenya and Tanzania's border dispute over Covid-19 testing procedures has left hundreds of truck drivers stranded at the Namanga border, causing a significant economic disruption.
According to reports, no single truck has entered Kenya from the Tanzanian side for the last week, with drivers queuing on both sides of the border in the hopes of being tested.
Yesterday, hundreds of truck drivers were seen queuing at the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) offices, with minimal activity on either side amid growing uncertainty over the next course of action.
"We have been waiting here for a week. Our goods are perishing while our security is not guaranteed," said Asman Mwambea, one of the drivers.
The standoff comes barely a month after the countries agreed to reopen their borders after tension that threatened a trade dispute.
Travel guidelines and restrictions rekindled a festering trade war that has seen both countries impose sanctions on each other and ban trade in certain goods.
Kenya's Ministry of Health ordered that all truck drivers must be tested for Covid-19, which was met with resistance from Tanzanian drivers who claim they are uncomfortable with the procedures used.
"They have always insisted they are free from the virus. They claim they have been tested at home yet many of those we have tested are positive," said an officer who works at the lab but declined to be named.
The mobile laboratory has been up and running with the capacity to test between 500 and 600 samples daily, with results taking only five hours to obtain.
However, the order to screen every truck driver did not go down well with their Tanzania counterparts, leading to the current standoff.
East African Business Council Executive Director Peter Mathuki said the diplomatic tiff between Kenya and Tanzania had caused the weekly volume of goods crossing the Namanga border to drop to 40 per cent.
Meanwhile, over 100 Kenyan truck drivers being detained at Sirare on the Kenyan-Tanzania border are facing a humanitarian crisis, with some claiming they have run out of food, money, and medication.
"The Kenyan drivers heading to Tanzania were being held because the authorities there said they were doubting their Covid-19 test results. We don't understand why only those driving into Kenya are being detained," said Juma Amenya, one of the drivers.
