Malaba town is struggling to return to life from Covid-induced business disruptions almost a year after the Kenya-Uganda border was closed.
Cross-border business is slowly returning to normal although pedestrian movement across the bridge that separates the two countries is still minimal.
Residents said the entertainment industry has shouldered the brunt of Covid-19 and its associated effects. Some of the once lively pubs and restaurant are no more.
Alice Asiyo, a bar operator in Malaba in Uganda, said she may not reopen unless restrictions on cross-border movement are lifted.
“We have been hit badly. Most of our people have returned to the village. Look around, all these are closed,” Asiyo said pointing to at least five local bars that have since shut doors.
The border was officially closed on March 22, 2020 for Uganda and March 23, 2020 for Kenya.
Traders said both Kenya and Uganda should reopen border operations as the number of coronavirus cases continue to drop across East Africa.
They, however, said people crossing should remain vigilant by following the laid down guidelines on coronavirus.
“We have been seeing Covid cases declining. The disease is still with us and the decrease in the number of positive cases is evidence that we are succeeding in the fight,” Murega Kimarui, a shop owner, said.
He said the two governments should up patrols to ensure people illegally crossing the border are monitored. This, he said, will limit further spread of the disease.
Most shops on the Ugandan side that sold apparels have been shut for the last 10 months.
Malaba Business Owners Association chair Fred Papa has on several occasions called on President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni to consider the plight of traders in Busia and open the border.
In January, he said the border should be reopened after the Ugandan elections.
Papa said the economies in East Africa and the world have suffered greatly from Covid-19 shocks.
On January 21, the East African Business Council said testing of traders in open-air markets across Uganda and Kenya may not be easy and could derail cross-border business.
EABC chief executive Peter Mathuki said Covid-19 restrictions including border closures have pushed some traders to seek alternative routes to do business. The porous borders were giving room for illicit trade to flow across the region, he said.
