Daily curfew leaves scores including Form Four students stranded

Hundreds of Kenyans, including Form Four students who had finished their exams earlier in the day, were trapped on Monday by the daily 8pm to 4am curfew.

Teachers and students who had sought refuge at Uhuru Park as night fell said that they had arrived late after travelling from various parts of the country and encountering heavy traffic jams on the way.

A spot check by Citizen TV showed scores of students from various schools across the country huddled in the park, unsure of how and when they would get home.

Patrick Ng’etich, a teacher at the Anestar Girls who was accompanying several students to Nairobi, said the daily curfew had left students who had travelled from Nakuru stranded.

“Our students finished their paper late, by the time we got to Nairobi, it was already late and there was nothing we could do,” he said on Monday.

The Ministry of Education had previously directed all schools across the country to plan how students would travel into and out of the five counties currently under lockdown.

Students on transit must be dressed in full school uniform and have a letter of introduction from their respective schools.

The latest comes amid reports that law enforcement officers were increasing vigilance in the diseased zone, particularly in Nairobi, where residents are accused of flouting Ministry of Health guidelines and routinely violating the curfew.

Thousands of motorists spent the better part of Saturday night stuck in traffic after encountering police roadblocks on several major highways.

The road blocks have been erected on several busy roads as follows: Thika Road at the Mountain Mall, Waiyaki Way, Kangundo Road at the Kayole Junction, the Eastern Bypass at Baraka/75, Mbagathi Way and Langata Road.

On Sunday, the situation remained unchanged, with police officers promising stricter implementation of the laws on Monday.

Kenyans were stuck in traffic starting at 2 p.m. on Monday, with motorists spending an average of 2 hours in traffic from Ruiru to the Thika police barrier.

The commute takes less than 15 minutes on a typical day.

Elsewhere, scores of city residents were marooned in town by the traffic snarl-ups and the rush-hour drama

Photos showed hundreds of Kenyans lining up at the empty bus tops in a bid to beat the daily curfew.

Many people have chastised the authorities for enforcing the measure while lobbying to have it lifted.

President Uhuru Kenyatta revised the curfew in March to deal with a third Covid-19 wave.

He also ordered the closure of bars and schools, as well as movement restrictions in five counties, including Nairobi.