Garissa boat owners hike fare by 200% as floods cut off road network

Boat owners have taken advantage of the flood situation to hike transport fees for stranded passengers travelling to and from Garissa.

On Friday last week, KeNHA closed the Mororo-Kona Punda section declaring the road potentially unsafe.

The situation has since inconvenienced many passengers, motorists and commuters who can no longer use the busy road.

Hundreds of lorries transporting goods and other commodities as well as fuel tankers remain packed at the Madogo trading centre.

A spot check at Kona Punda area showed an increase in flood waters.

The boats, which are normally used for rescue missions in River Tana are charging at least Sh1,500 for the four-kilometre stretch between Madogo and Garissa which has been destroyed by floods.

Before the floods, matatus used to charge Sh30 for the same distance while boats used to charge Sh500 for the 4-kilometre stretch in December.

Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) from Nairobi to Garissa and Wajir are dropping their passengers at Madogoand they are then forced to board boats to Garissa and connect with other buses to Wajir.

When the Star visited the area, passengers mostly travelling to Wajir and Mandera had lined up patiently waiting for their turn to board the only three boats operating with a capacity of at least 25 passengers.

The passengers called on the government to quickly intervene, saying that the situation should be address fast or they would be forced to continue paying through their noses to travel.

Ahmed Abdi who was travelling to Wajir and was among those in the queue to board the boat. He regretted that the private boat owners had taken advantage of the desperate situation to charge them extra.

“Surely how come they are charging each person Sh1,500 for such a short distance? For someone like me, I still have a long way to go since I will have to pay Sh2,000 again to my destination. Where is the government when we are going through this suffering,” Abdi said.

Osman Magabo a resident of Madogo said not many can afford the amount being charged by boat owners calling on the government to act fast in repairing the flooded road.

“I survive on menial jobs which I do in Garissa town. the most I make is Sh300, now when you tell me to pay Sh3,000 to and from Garissa where do you expect me to get that kind of money daily?” he asked.

Residents we spoke to expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the repairs of the road section have dragged since December last year and want the government to move with speed to repair them.

“All the people here who work in Garissa Town can not afford to pay Sh1,500 yet they work for Sh500 per day. This is not ideal for us and we want the government to intervene by repairing the flooded roads to save us from this burden,” Hassan Mohamed, a resident said.

“We only spend Sh30 using matatus and Sh50 on bodaboda on normal days on this road. Today we are being charged Sh1,500. This is not right."