This truck belonging to Mr Abdi Omar ( pictured left]) has been impounded by police officers and Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) officials at Mtwapa Weigh Bridge in Kilifi County since Friday last week after he declined to surrender the vehicles Airbags to the SGS officers.

Transporters have accused road management authorities of confiscating their vehicles' dummy axles.

Among the officers the drivers have accused are the police, Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) and Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) officials.

The drivers told The Standard at the Weigh Bridge that the devices have been cleared by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and are important as they help them to steer the vehicles.

Truck owners who agreed to leave behind the dummy axles were allowed to proceed with their journey.

"The officers asked me to remove the dummy axles and hand them over to them before proceeding with the journey. I challenged them to explain the legality of the order since the truck's configuration had been verified by NTSA but they told me that was the law," said Omar Abdi.

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He claimed his vehicle has been held at the weighbridge since Friday last week.

Mr Abdi said he had passed through the weighbridge on his way to Lamu to deliver electricity poles but no one questioned him.

"I don't understand why they did not find fault with the vehicle when I was heading to Lamu. At that time the vehicle was loaded," said Abdi.

Another transporter, Primji Patel from Primji Patel and Company Ltd, who surrendered his dummy axles before being allowed to proceed to Mombasa, accused the officers of selectively applying the regulation. He claimed vehicle from big companies were not inspected.

KeNHA Coast region manager Jared Makori told The Standard that his officers carry out regular inspection at weighbridges but are not allowed to confiscate the dummy axles.

He, however, said KeNHA is concerned because the axles damage roads. "When you lift one of the two axles, which are supposed to bear the weight equally, all the weight ends up on one axle, which in turn leads to damage on the roads. That's why we press for the removal of the dummy axles," he said.

But he added: "We cannot confiscate the dummy axles because they are not our property."

Coast Traffic boss Solomon Njuguna said while he was aware of the exercise by KeNHA, who carry regular checks on trucks concerning axle loads, the law does not allow police or any other officers to confiscate the dummy axles.

"It is wrong to confiscate the axles," said Njuguna. We were unable to get a comment from SGS.