Tightened security on Kenya-Uganda border causes heavy traffic [Photos]

A long queue of trucks from Kocholia to Malaba border in Busia Bounty on 19, 2021. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

The police have tightened security on the Kenya-Uganda border following bomb explosions in Kampala two days ago.

Officers manning the porous border said they are not leaving anything to chance after two bombs went off in the Ugandan capital, killing three people and injuring over 30 others, five of them critically. 

A fourth attacker was been arrested and an explosive vest recovered, according to Uganda police.

The stretch had covered about 15 kilometers [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Three attackers, using motorbikes, blew themselves up near parliament and Kampala's police headquarters, in the attack the Islamic State (IS) group has said it organised and executed.

"We are doing everything possible to guarantee the safety of Kenyans," said Bungoma County police boss Musyoki Mutungi, under whose jurisdiction Malaba, a border town between Kenya and Uganda, sits.

He added: "We are all aware terrorists attacked the neighbouring country with which we share a border. We also had terrorists escape from a prison in Kenya but have since been rearrested. We cannot sleep."

The traffic jam is due to tightened security on the Kenya-Uganda border following bomb explosions in Kampala [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

"We have intensified patrols especially around River Lwakhaka. We have also intensified road searches on the Lwakhaka–Webuye and Webuye-Malaba road," said Dr Mutungu.

However, the road checks being conducted by the police have led to a traffic snarl-up stretching from Kocholia to Malaba, the entry point to Uganda.

Mutungi, an organisational leadership specialist, said he has been spending time talking to his officers from different departments to encourage them to up their game in border security.

"We have a very good working relationship with all security agencies and our main goal is to ensure our people are safe," he said.