Mwambie apeleke jeshi mipakani akianza Kenya-Tanzania, Uganda-Tanzania na Rwanda-Tanzania. Kwa mfano mpaka wa Tanzania na Kenya kuna panya roads zaidi ya 1000!
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AUTHORITIES at the Namanga border post in Arusha Region have raised alarm over motorcycle taxi operators who ferry people from the Kenyan side into Tanzania through ‘panya routes’ to avoid screening for Covid-19 and undergoing mandatory quarantine for 14 days.
Dr Gabriel Mdachi, the officer in charge of health at the Namanga One Stop Border Post (OSBP) said here yesterday that those who procure services of bodaboda to flaunt rules are foreigners as well as Tanzanians returning home from Kenya.
He said they hire services of motorcycle taxi riders to evade scanners mounted at OSBP and enforcement of mandatory quarantine.
Dr Mdachi said they came to learn of the dangerous practice the hard way after it emerged that people who came through the official border had normal temperatures but when told about the quarantine, opted to go back to Kenya only to be spotted in Tanzania much later.
“We later found out that they hire bodaboda riders who ferry them through the bush into the Tanzanian side, ride them to the main road where they board public transport and continue with their destinations,” he said.
After learning of the practice, authorities became more alert and recently caught one Tanzanian and two Rwandans who refused to be quarantined at their own cost and instead chose to go back to Kenya which they were allowed to do.
However, the trio did not go beyond no-man’s land into Kenya but disappeared into the bush and called a motorcycle taxi rider who took them inside Namanga where they landed in the hands of law enforcers.
“They were arrested while boarding a mini bus heading to Arusha. Their passports have been taken away and they are being quarantined under supervision of the defence and security committee of Longido District,” he said.
Dr Mdachi appealed to bodaboda riders in the area to stop ferrying people through illegal routes as the practice jeopardises lives of millions of Tanzanians.
He also called on public transport operators plying Namanga-Arusha route as well as passengers on such vehicles not to accept passengers emerging from the bush.
Nevely Mungaya, the Namanga town executive director acknowledged the challenge, saying that the focus is now to sensitize bodaboda riders in the area so that they understand the threat posed by their greed for a few extra coins.
Motor taxi operators were taking part in other illegal activities and strategies were being laid down to stop them, he asserted.
“They are believed to be behind the transportation of illegal immigrants from the Horn of Africa into Tanzania as well as narcotics. Now they are helping people enter Tanzania illegally,” he stated.
Samweli Chala, the secretary of the association of minibus drivers in the area said they held a meeting and resolved not to take passengers brought by bodaboda riders from the bushes.
“We agreed that operational licences will be revoked for a driver caught taking passengers brought by bodaboda from unauthorized spots. The vehicle will be brought back to Namanga, impounded and the driver involved prosecuted,” he added.