President Uhuru Kenyatta’s silence, during the Mashujaa day celebrations, on SGR directive barring transportation of cargo by road has taken Mombasa residents back to the streets.
A group of human rights activists, truck drivers businesspeople among other stakeholders affected by the directive on Tuesday stormed the streets of Mombasa to demand what they termed as their right.
Led by Haki Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid, the protestors called on the president to listen to their plea saying their lives had been turned upside down by the directive.
“We are demonstrating every Monday so that the president can listen to our concerns. But the president has neglected us I don’t know if it is because we are people from the coastal region or I don’t know why.
I don’t know why the president doesn’t want to listen to our cry, we can’t wait for Dongo Kundu project. So we are demonstrating peacefully so that our concerns can be addressed,” said Salim one of the protestors.
Haki Africa director also condemned the government for failing to give Mombasa residents an opportunity to better their lives through transportation of cargo by road.
“We don’t understand what is in Nairobi that is not in Mombasa. We want the government to tell us why they have removed clearance from Mombasa and taken it to Nairobi,” said Khalid, Haki Africa director.
The group had planned a parallel event during the Mashujaa day celebrations but later cancelled after they reportedly expected President Uhuru to solve the matter during his address.
However, the head of state steered off the issue during his address leaving residents, in all appearances, heartbroken.
The new SGR directive has left a number of truck drivers jobless with major towns that used to benefit from their operations completely paralysed.
The directive banned the transportation of cargo by road hence all cargo is transported to Nairobi by rail for clearance.