The Likoni Ferry delay issue is caused by the management

The moment the word Likoni Ferry is mentioned anywhere in Kenya today, it will be welcomed with a short moment of silence for the supposed news could be tragedy. I have used this channel for a continuous period of 3 years now and proper account of the operations will baffle any novice. To start with, Crowd Management Unit was tendered to Texas Alarm Security Company. The first question I asked was how this Security Management deal was arrived at. The CS of Internal Security arrested a journalist on security issues so let me arrest that story there.

Sometimes crossing with the ferry reveals the beauty of the horizon, say in the morning when the sun is just rising and in the evening when the sun is setting. Take for instance when there are four ferries operating, commuters will be barred from entering the ferries as they wait for vehicles to fill the ferries first. This creates unnecessary human traffic. The crowd is so nasty that you will forget the beauty of nature just praying to reach the other side safely.

When Marwa asserted that Managing Director, Musa be sacked then I knew that behind every rumour, there are traces of truth. Take for instance, when they delayed to pay ferry workers, confusion was caused and the results were enormous. Like that fateful day, I crossed at 5.40am from the Likoni side and all the gates were open with no one manning them thus passengers proceeded to wait for ferries just next to the shore. Cox wains ensured that the ferries were as slow as possible, causing  passengers panic . One of them proceeded and exceeded the limit and stalled one ferry that created water tides. I therefore refuse the theory that the ferries are old and tides sometimes are low. All these are always caused by humans.

Another issue that came up was when Musa the MD decided to sack a human resource Manager who is said to be from Meru and replaced him with a person from coast. This caused a lot of discomfort among the workers who vowed to teach Musa a lesson. In the end 11 lives were lost, business deals cancelled, tourists stuck, candidates delayed for exams and all that. But Was Marwa's road side declaration that Musa be sacked warranted? This only showed lack of coordination among government departments.

What am left to wonder is that, the ramp of Mv Likoni has not been repaired, Mv Harambee is still the same in slow motion, Mv Nyayo still billows the charcoal black smoke, one would think it uses firewood, Mv Kwale still seems to  be the only hope. But as we speak, no incidences are faced. Why should these incidences happen on some selected days or times when management has issues?

Lastly, let me express concern that the way Texas Alarms security guards mishandle passengers is unwarranted. They seem frustrated by their job and one is left to conclude that they are paid less thus no motivation.