The County Government of Busia has suspended the entry fee for long-distance truck drivers to pave the way for a dialogue among the relevant stakeholders.
Busia Governor Paul Otuoma speaking on Friday, November 1, after a meeting with the National leadership of the Kenya Transporters Association (KTA), noted that despite shelving the entry levy, the drivers would still be demanded to pay parking fees.
“We have put on hold the issues of entry fee for now but we will allow that parking fee within the municipality has to be paid. The country will also try to provide services, and the association will also communicate with the drivers,” stated Governor Otuoma.
Addressing the matter, representatives of the long-distance truck drivers promised to work hand in hand with the Busia County government to ensure the seamless collection of revenue particularly at the border point.
However, the representatives urged the county government to ensure the collection of revenues from motorists was done in a fair and in line with the services that have been provided to the motorists by the county officers.
“We will support the county government because we need them and they are uniquely placed since they are at the border point, they also need to collect revenue. Our only issue was that the revenue was supposed to be collected fairly,” noted a representative of the long-distance motorists.
The decision to suspend the taxes comes barely five days after transport along the busy Eldoret-Malaba Highway was brought to a standstill after truck drivers protested and blocked the road over unfair cess charges by the Busia County Government.
Speaking at the Malaba border in Amagoro, the angry truck drivers stated that Busia County was trying to force them into paying the Ksh400 cess fees without proper consultation.
They also blamed the county officials for overstepping their mandate with the new charges, as the Eldoret-Malaba Highway was under the management of the Kenya National Highways Authority(KENHA).
''The county is tolling us money that we do not know the reasons for and they started the exercise abruptly in the morning. We do not know why they are taxing us with that money, this road is a trans-highway,’’ Salim Bahaba, a truck driver, told the press.
"This road here, there are no proper sanitary facilities, there are no parking spaces yet they are coming in with the new taxes. This is why we are closing this road and not even a bicycle will be passing here,’’ another driver lamented.
The truck drivers parked their vehicles on the road vowing not to allow any traffic flow until their demands to have the county backtrack on its earlier directive could be met.
