East Africa Community (EAC) heads of state have directed ministers responsible for Health, Trade, Transport and EAC affairs to finalize and adopt an EAC digital surveillance and tracking system for drivers and crew on covid-19 for immediate use by Partner States.
They took note of efforts by partner states in undertaking bilateral engagements to address cross-border challenges and the EAC secretariat mission that assessed the situation on clearance processes at the borders during the pandemic period.
Last week, Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia directed that drivers loading cargo at the Mombasa port and Nairobi Inland Container Deport (ICD) will have to be tested for Covid-19 and issued with a certificate 48 hours before accessing the loading points.
Kenya serves transit market of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. Truck drivers have in the recent past raised concerns on the delays at the crossing border points, which has prompted member states to take a number of measures to address delays.
This week, the Kenya government set up 14 testing facilities along the major highways used by truckers to fast track testing in the wake of the new directives it has issued to tackle Covid 19 at border entry points and neighbouring countries.
Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Salva Kiir from South Sudan held a consultative meeting through video conference yesterday. This followed a joint meeting last week, of Cabinet Secretaries responsible for Health, Trade, Transport and EAC Affairs also held though video conferencing to discuss a regional approach to COVID-19.
The four heads of state received minister’s report. They agreed to adopt a harmonised system for certification and sharing of covid-19 test results.
The meeting directed partner states to prioritize regional value and supply chains to support local production of essential medical products and supplies including masks, sanitizers, soaps, coveralls, face shields, processed food, ventilators as part of efforts to combat covid-19 in the region.
They further directed partner states to facilitate farmers to continue farming activities during this pandemic and post covid-19 period, support agro-processing and value chains as an import substitution measure and establish special purpose financing schemes for small and medium enterprises, to cushion farmers from the negative effects of the covid-19 pandemic.
The heads of state designated the ministers responsible for health, transport and EAC Affairs to be the focal persons for the regional covid-19 response, with the Minister of Health taking lead.
They agreed to meet regularly to address the response efforts and expressed the need for flexibility in the application of the EAC rules and procedures when faced with a crisis such as the covid-19 pandemic.
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