The once-common spectacle of hired goons ambushing mobile weighbridge teams along the Mombasa highways to rescue overloaded sand trucks has virtually disappeared, officials have revealed.
Athi River Weighbridge Deputy Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Mohammed Adan told journalists that incidents of violent disruption, including stone-throwing, tyre-slashing and road blockades mounted by youth tracing enforcement units via WhatsApp groups, have “dropped to almost zero” in the last two months.
The breakthrough, he said, followed a series of closed-door meetings between the police, KeNHA, and the sand transporters’ SACCOs operating in Kajiado, Machakos, and Makueni counties.
“These saccos agreed to self-regulate their members,” the deputy OCS explained. “In return, we guaranteed loading zones were identified and legitimate transporters sensitized on axle load regulations.”
Mr Peter Njoroge, the Danka Africa (K) Ltd contractor managing the weighbridge for KeNHA, confirmed the change on the ground.
“We attribute this change to the extensive work that KeNHA has done to meet with SACCOs and provided a path to self-regulation. From there things have been smooth and these incidences of hooliganism have greatly reduced.
The calmer environment has allowed KeNHA to deploy its mobile units more freely along evasion hotspots such as Isinya, Konza and Mtito Andei, further pushing nationwide axle-load compliance close to the record 99 per cent seen at fixed stations.
The police units have partnered with DCI to identify and trace goons, who often emerge from the sand loading sites.
They are identified by other compliant transporters. Other units have been engaged to track down lorries that are operating without numberplates, from the extensive network of virtual weighbridges.
Inspector Adan has urged transporters to desist from engaging in criminal acts, saying the punishment will be tougher than fines as the goon activity risks endangering other road user’s lives.
