When heavy road policing leads to traffic jams

Traffic Jam on Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

I decided to utilise this week’s public holiday for inter-county commute—that’s about the only time traffic moves—but I still got stuck. The car stalled when I stopped to pick a friend, just after 7am, at the underpass near the Utalii Hotel, off Thika Road.

But traffic policemen had already staked a claim, selectively waving down matatus and exchanging handshakes with the drivers, which I thought as odd, given the risks of bodily contact, as Covid-19 pandemic rages on. Perhaps some risks are worth taking, I concluded…