Truck drivers’ strike ends
Jan 31, 2006
OPERATIONS at the Uganda-Kenya border points have normalised after two days of a blockade by lorry drivers, environment state minister Lt. Gen. Jeje Odongo said yesterday.
By Richard Komakech
OPERATIONS at the Uganda-Kenya border points have normalised after two days of a blockade by lorry drivers, environment state minister Lt. Gen. Jeje Odongo said yesterday.
The blockade followed protests over the death of a Kenyan truck driver, Joshua Ng’ang’a.
The army said Ng’ang’a and Corporal Magara of the Presidential Guard Brigade (PGB) died when three vehicles collided in Seeta in Mukono district on Thursday.
The Kenyan drivers alleged that Ng’ang’a had been killed by the PGB. His wife Rebecca Mumbi, quoted in the Kenyan press, said her husband’s body had stab and bullet wounds.
However, PGB spokes-person Edison Kwesiga refuted Mumbi’s claims.
“That is not true and such information would be intended to put the PGB in bad light. As far as I know, there were no bullet wounds,†he said.
Odongo, who met Kenyan government officials at the border town of Busia, said they had reached a compromise on the matter.
“They (Kenyan authorities) have agreed to talk to the drivers and they are trying to open the way for us,†Odongo said.
By press time, Odongo said clearing of the road had started and border crossings would resume immediately.
OPERATIONS at the Uganda-Kenya border points have normalised after two days of a blockade by lorry drivers, environment state minister Lt. Gen. Jeje Odongo said yesterday.
The blockade followed protests over the death of a Kenyan truck driver, Joshua Ng’ang’a.
The army said Ng’ang’a and Corporal Magara of the Presidential Guard Brigade (PGB) died when three vehicles collided in Seeta in Mukono district on Thursday.
The Kenyan drivers alleged that Ng’ang’a had been killed by the PGB. His wife Rebecca Mumbi, quoted in the Kenyan press, said her husband’s body had stab and bullet wounds.
However, PGB spokes-person Edison Kwesiga refuted Mumbi’s claims.
“That is not true and such information would be intended to put the PGB in bad light. As far as I know, there were no bullet wounds,†he said.
Odongo, who met Kenyan government officials at the border town of Busia, said they had reached a compromise on the matter.
“They (Kenyan authorities) have agreed to talk to the drivers and they are trying to open the way for us,†Odongo said.
By press time, Odongo said clearing of the road had started and border crossings would resume immediately.