Kenya assures East Africa of peaceful poll

By KNA  ( email the author)

Posted  Sunday, March 3  2013 at  14:40

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President Mwai Kibaki has assured Kenya's neighbouring states that the General Election to be held on Monday will be peaceful.

In a special message to Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni which was delivered by Cooperative Minister Joseph Nyagah in Entebbe, Kibaki said Kenya is optimistic of conducting peaceful elections on Monday.

Kibaki said the movement of goods to Uganda and other landlocked nations will still remain uninterrupted.

President Kibaki said adequate security has been provided to both rail and road networks along the northern corridor to ensure goods for exports and imports are transported securely.

He also noted that security surveillance has been beefed-up in areas identified as the likely hotspots to stop any cases of railway line uprooting as had happened during the 2008 post election violence.

He said police have been equipped with 19 more vehicles and an additional 169 security guards to backup surveillance to both the Kenya Railways Corporation and the Rift Valley Railways (RVR).

The Kenya Railways and RVR have further set up Rapid Response Centres in Nairobi, Nakuru and Mombasa for any distress calls along the railway line to ensure there was uninterrupted flow of cargo to Uganda.

President Kibaki added that staff at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) have been ordered to be on duty to ensure that cargo leaves the port on time to avoid congestion.

The government has further promised to waive any demurrage charges arising out of delays in clearance of goods occasioned by disruption of services at the port as result of election related chaos.

Kibaki pointed out that two helicopters manned by police officers have been deployed to monitor the movement of cargo between Mombasa and Malaba borders.

To ease the movement of trucks through Kenya, all weighbridges and roadblocks will be manned efficiently with increased patrols and manpower from the Kenya National Highways Authority.