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Jinja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Motorcyclists ferrying food items from Jinja city to Njeru municipality staged a peaceful protest on Monday afternoon, protesting police’s continued restrictions on those trying to access the old bridge.
The motorcyclists say that although they are left to freely access the bridge between 5:30am and 6:00am, police personnel install check points at around 7:00am on a daily basis, where only motorcycles ferrying patients and essential workers are cleared, leaving out all those carrying food items and other forms of luggage.
Motorcyclists argue that Jinja city is the main food basket for Njeru municipality and most of their clients make daily food purchases from markets within Jinja town, but the current unpredictable police actions at the different checkpoints are hampering this arrangement.
They say that orders on the traffic flow keep on changing over time, with motorists at times being denied access over unclear reasons. Yet same security operates grant free access on some days, which has created uncertainties on the sustainability of their activities along the bridge throughout the lockdown.
Joel Munabi, a boda boda rider says that he earns more while transporting food items and other forms of luggage for traders and households for his clients from Jinja to Njeru, and therefore the endless traffic limitations in accessing the bridge have negatively impacted on his daily income.
Banuli Mwesigwa, another motorcyclist says that authorities in Jinja city and Buikwe district should harmonize and allow free traffic flow in the two areas, since both of them are interdependent for trade and other essential services.
Joseph Musasizi, a food dealer says that they hire pickups to transport food items from Jinja to Buikwe but pedestrians whose identity cards indicate that they are residents in Njeru, are often denied access and most of them resort to hazadous crossing by water.
However, the Kiira region police commander, Dauda Hiriga argues that the continued unregulated traffic flow between the two districts has created congestion and increases the risk of covid-19 infections if not controlled.
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