Traffic Along Thika Road. Photo: Courtesy
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 17- A night operation to enforce the 8pm curfew caught thousands of Kenyans off-guard, as a multi-agency team mounted road blocks across Nairobi county.
This was after a lull that saw motorists for days operate even past 8pm, prompting the Saturday night move, police said.
Also affected were hundreds of essential service providers like ambulances, who were caught up in the melee.
The roadblocks were mounted along all major roads including Thika Road, Waiyaki Way, Langata and Ngong road.
Thousands of Kenyans plying the busy Thika Super Highway were the most affected with police remaining firm, insisting they violated curfew guidelines and must face the consequences.
Frustrated, some resulted to live streaming the events on their social media platforms, others embarked on a social media rant accusing police of being insensitive.
“I got stuck on the road for hours. I had to use another route to evade the police,” a motorist who sought anonymity told Shahidi News.
Other resulted to humour as they sought ways of getting home;
At around midnight, the traffic snarl-up witnessed for nearly four hours was slowly fading away after police unmounted roadblocks along major roads.
The dusk to dawn curfew in Kenya will run until May 2021, amidst a gradual containment of the COVID-19 infections, now at 12 percent.
In a gazette notice dated April 12, Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i revealed the revised orders will cover not only the five zoned areas but also the rest of the country.
“This Order shall apply during the hours of darkness between eight o’clock in the evening and four o’clock in the morning with effect from the 29th March, 2021 and shall remain in effect for a period of sixty days thereof,” the Cabinet Secretary said in the notice.
Those outside the capital Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu and Nakuru counties will however start their curfew from 10pm to 4am.
Those in zoned areas starts observing the curfew at 8pm.
The order further states that there shall be no public gatherings, processions or movement either alone or as a group during the period of the curfew except as shall be permitted, in writing, by a police officer in charge of the police in a county or a police officer in charge of the police in a division/sub-county.
Matiang’i had earlier on indicated the curfew orders would run for 30 days.
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