By Stuart Bogere Oswald

KiU, Main Campus - The East African Community (EAC) has committed to conducting free COVID-19 rapid tests at the Kenya-Uganda border points of Busia and Malaba for seven days to clear the truck traffic jam that has disrupted trade in the region.

The statement issued on Tuesday 11th January, 2021 follows a joint multi-sectoral virtual meeting of the ministers responsible for EAC Affairs, Health and Transport convened by the EAC Secretariat.

The Secretariat further noted that this was a deviation from the 14 days COVID-19 testing period, previously agreed at the regional level and monitored through the Regional Electronic Cargo and Drivers Tracking System.

The statement reported that currently, over 4,500 trucks have stalled at the two border posts due to the mandatory COVID-19 testing requirement introduced by Uganda on 20th December, 2021.

The multi-sectoral ministerial meeting also agreed that member states should always notify each other in case of any deviations from the agreed protocols relating to measures against COVID-19.

According to Adan Mohamed, Chairman EAC Council of Ministers, said that, “This will mitigate the impact on movement of goods, persons, workers and services across the region."