NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 23 – The Ministry of Transport has announced the resumption of inter-county transport operations in a move to support the recovery of the transportation sector in the country.
The announcement on Friday night came as a relief to transport operators who had borne the brunt of strict coronavirus containment measures imposed by the government since its outbreak in the country in March 2020.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said in a statement that the sector had suffered a huge financial loss during the pandemic period, but noted that the move to ban night travel had played a key role in minimizing the spread of the virus.
“Following the lifting of the dusk to dawn curfew that has been in effect from 27th March 2020 by the President in his speech during Mashujaa Day Celebrations on 20th October, 2021, I take this opportunity to inform all the transport service providers and commuters that night transport operations are now allowed in line with the President’s directive,” he said.
Macharia thanked the Ministry of Health for guiding the transport sector and lauded the members of the public for complying with the transport sector guidelines.
The Transport CS however said the government shall continue to encourage the compliance of various applicable COVID-19 guidelines such as maintaining physical distance, mandatory use of face masks, hand washing and rapid health screening to keep the virus at bay.
Macharia further said that in a bid to increase the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination among transport operators, his ministry launched a nation-wide vaccination campaign on October 7 targeting vehicle, taxi and bodaboda operators within the transport industry.
He appealed to players in the transport sector to be on the forefront in advocating and participating in the vaccination exercise pointing out that the move would complement the government’s efforts to get its citizenry vaccinated and fast track the recovery of the economy.
“As a sector we are encouraging members of the Transport fraternity to embrace the COVID-19 vaccination in line with the transport sector national rallying theme of “PataChanjo, TuimarisheUsafiri” and the national rallying theme of “PataChanjo, TufungueNchi,” said Macharia.
The vacation of the nationwide curfew by President Uhuru Kenyatta on October 20, has been welcomed by Kenyans and leaders in heavily impacted sectors including the hospitality who said the move was timely in the country’s quest to revamp the battered economy.
According to the 2021 economic survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) the transport sector’s gross value added declined by 7.8 per cent in 2020 from 6.3 percent in 2019, marking a stagnation.
KNBS stated that the restriction on mobility instituted by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19 dampened the sector’s growth during the review period.
Freight transport through the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) however increased from 4,159 thousand tonnes in 2019 to 4,418 thousand tonnes in 2020.
Revenue generated from railway transport declined from Sh15,860 million in 2019 to Sh12,552 million in 2020.
The contraction in growth was reflected in decline in consumption of light diesel by 3 per cent to stand at 2,143.5 thousand metric tonnes in 2020. Commercial passenger traffic by air declined by 62.5 per cent from 12 million in 2019 to 4.5 million in 2020.
In the tourism sector, the number of international arrivals declined by 71.5 per cent to 579.6 thousand in 2020.
KNBS reported that tourism earnings declined by 43.9 per cent to Sh91.7 billion in 2020 while hotel bed-night occupancy contracted by 58 per cent to 3,803.3 thousand in 2020.
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