By Patrick Beja

Mombasa, Kenya: The Government has claimed the 10km traffic jam at the Mariakani weighbridge was caused by a cartel of brokers that incited truck drivers to block the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.

In a statement, Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) claimed the cartel was protesting a move to dismantle it as it solicited for bribes to allow overloaded trucks to pass through the weighbridge.

At the same time, Kenya Transport Association (KTA), which represents majority of truck owners, Monday complained of incurring huge losses owing to the traffic snarl-up and called on KeNHA Director General Meshack Kidenda and Inspector General of Police David  Kimaiyo to call for an urgent meeting to address the crisis.

KTA chairman Paul Maiyo said the meeting should address the stalemate at the weighbridge and the deterioration of roads following corruption that allowed overloading to continue unabated.

“We have noted with concern the prevailing stalemate at the weighbridges and the continuing deterioration of the road infrastructure resulting from overloading,” Maiyo said.

KTA chief executive officer Jane Njeru said due to corruption at the weighbridges, overloaded trucks have been allowed to pass through while those that comply with axle load rules are punished. She called for dismantling of the cartel.

Huge costs

She said the traffic snarl-up at Mariakani on Sunday had reduced the turnaround of trucks at the port of Mombasa and other cargo sources as they make trips to the Great Lakes region, resulting to huge costs of doing business.

“What is happening at the weighbridges is not acceptable. The traffic jams adversely affect the region economies because some of the cargo moved by trucks is meant for manufacturing and the delays have huge costs to economies,” she explained.

Ms Njeru asked KeNHA to fight corruption at the weighbridges with stakeholders for it to be effective. The transporters also want KeNHA to calibrate the weighbridges frequently to give the correct readings.

KeNHA General Manager in charge of maintenance Kenneth Mudulia said five days prior to the snarl-up, the authority dispatched senior members of staff to audit compliance to stipulated axle load at Mariakani following complaints that brokers were interfering with operations at the facility.

He said KeNHA officers, working closely with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption and police officers, flushed out the brokers from the station and operations were normalised.

“The audit team established that the brokers were working in cahoots with rogue truck drivers to evade weighing, thereby flouting axle load rules,” Mudulia said.

Total compliance

He added: “It is these brokers who incited the truck drivers to block the road at Mariakani town from 6pm Saturday with a view to precipitating a crisis after realising that our officers were unrelenting in ensuring total compliance to axle load limits.”

Mudalia said KeNHA notified top police officers in Mombasa about the illegal and deliberate closure of the busy highway long before the situation escalated.

“We, however, wish to state categorically that no truck will be allowed to flout axle load rules. KeNHA is fully committed to ensuring that our roads are protected from damage due to unnecessary overloading,” he warned.

Between 500 and 1,000 trucks go through the weighbridge daily.