Nightmare for motorists as KeNHA takes over weighbridge

By CYRUS OMBATI and Patrick Beja

A standoff between Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Weighbridge Management and police has been blamed for a heavy traffic jam at the Mariakani weighbridge, Mombasa.

The snarl-up caused pain and delays and some motorists complained yesterday that they were been held up for up to 10 hours. The traffic was reported to have snaked for about 10km on either side of Mombasa Road.

The standoff started on Saturday when officials from a new private company and KeNHA took over the functions of weighing and charging of vehicles at the weighbridge.

Motorists who called The Standard’s newsroom did not understand what the cause of the problem was. “We do not know what is happening and most of the drivers have now left their steering and are seated by the roadsides. It is crazy,” said a caller.

Officials say KeNHA management accused police, officials from Ministry of Roads and other government agencies that have been in charge of the weighbridge of corruption before taking over.

Spare parts

But the police officer in charge of Mariakani Weighbridge, Superintendent Simon ole Ntutu said a truck-weighing machine on the left wing of weighbridge caused the jam after it broke down on Thursday.

Mr Ntutu said only the right wing was functional as officials raced to bring spare parts to fix the machine.

“We have experienced a long traffic jam because one of the two wings of the weighbridge broke down on Thursday. However, by this afternoon the situation has improved,” Ntutu explained yesterday.

According to the officer, the weighbridge, run by KeNHA handles between 500 and 1,000 vehicles daily.

“We expect the machines to be repaired soon to avoid this kind of situation,” Ntutu said.

Before dawn on Sunday, the jam stretched to Mariakani town several kilometres away, as traffic police officers struggled to revamp order.

A team of senior police officers sent from Mombasa to help the situation were unable to reach the weighbridge due to the heavy traffic.

“We need a chopper to be able to reach the scene because the jam is too heavy. People have cried and sought our help but we can’t do much,” said Coast PPO Aggrey Adoli.

Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo said the problem was with the ministry officials not his officers.

“Ask the ministry officials who are in charge of weighing and charging the vehicles. We are there to provide security,” he said.

He, however, said efforts were being made to end the chaos.

Witnesses said the new officials were not familiar with operations at the weighbridge hence the long time taken to clear vehicles.

The standoff between the officials started in January when KeNHA asked Kimaiyo to remove all police officers seconded there over corruption and other malpractices. Apart from Mariakani, KeNHA asked that officers at Athi River, Gilgil, Webuye and Busia weighbridges be removed.

Complete break

KeNHA explained that the management of the weighbridges had been contracted to SGS Kenya Limited through five clusters. “In the past, there has been a lot of corruption allegations involving both KeNHA staff and police. In the new management through SGS Kenya Limited, we have taken a complete break with the past ensuring no KeNHA staff is involved directly in the operations,” said M Kidenda of KeNHA.

Kimaiyo, then, moved 191 officers to various stations and posted 122 others to the weighbridges. The officers include 31 who are above the rank of the Sergeant.