Abstract
In East Africa, Covid-19 impacted not only the safety of its people but also the regional economy and general security of the East African Community. As such, the states have individually and collectively responded in various ways to contain the pandemic. Of the six member states of the East African Community (EAC), only Kenya and Tanzania have access to the Indian Ocean. Trucks are essential in transporting goods from the ports into the landlocked countries of the Community and beyond. However, truck drivers, aka truckers, are identified as high-risk persons for coronavirus infections, thus affecting trade within the EAC. This chapter analyses the response by governments of East African states in addressing the problem of truck drivers as a high-risk group for Covid-19 infections. It answers the questions: How has Covid-19 impacted trade within the East African Community concerning truckers? What measures have the EAC partner states put in place to ensure continued trade flow within the region? Central to this chapter is understanding the responses of the EAC member states to the vulnerability of truckers to Covid-19 and its impact on trade and inter-state relationships.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Clifford Silver Tarimo and Jian Wu. “The First Confirmed Case of Covid-19 in Tanzania: Recommendations Based on Lessons from China”. Tropical Medicine and Health, published April 26, 2020.
- 2.
Mark Nanyingi. “The Evolution of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenya”. Royal School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, https://rstmh.org/news. Accessed February 2022.
- 3.
Ministry of Health of Kenya, 2020.
- 4.
Dougherty, James and Robert Pfaltzgraff. 2010. Contending Theories of International Relations: A Comprehensive Survey. Longman: New York.
- 5.
Burchill, Scott, Andrew Linklater, and Jack Donnelly et al. 2021. Theories of International Relations. Third Edition, Macmillan: New York.
- 6.
Morgenthau, Hans, Kenneth Thompson, and David Clinton. 2005. Politics Among Nations. McGraw Hill: New York.
- 7.
World Health Organization Report, November 2020. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-operational-update%2D%2D-30-november-2020. Accessed December 24, 2022.
- 8.
World Health Organization, May 31, 2021. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-operational-update-on-Covid-19-31-may-2021. Accessed December 24, 2022.
- 9.
Oluoch, Ken. 2012. HIV/AIDS in Africa and Globally: Reconciling Public Health and Human Rights. Lambert Academic Publishing: Saarbrucken.
- 10.
Francis Bajinirwe, Jonathan Izudi, and Stephen Asiimwe. 2020. “Long Distance Truck Drivers and the Increasing Risk of Covid-19 Spread in Uganda”. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Vol. 98. September 2020, p. 191–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.06.085.
- 11.
Ibid.
- 12.
Daily Nation, May 18, 2020. https://issuu.com/dailynation/docs/dn_18052021. Accessed December 24, 2022.
- 13.
Oluoch, Ken, 2012.
- 14.
Patrick Mugo. What Uganda and Rwanda got Right That Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi did not https://www.theelephant.info. Accessed December 24, 2022.
- 15.
The East African. “Rwanda: High Costs, Delays as Rwanda Truckers Stopped Over Covid-19”. September 23, 2020.
- 16.
For information on Covid-19 and truck drivers between Tanzania and Kenya, see: Gesami, Brigid, The Effectiveness of the East African Community Response to Covid-19 (April 18, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4086667 or https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4086667; Vanguard. 2020. ‘Faulty’ tests of truck drivers: Tanzania accuses Kenya of sabotage.
- 17.
Biswaro, Joram Mukama. 2012. The Quest for Regional Integration in the Twenty First century- Rhetoric Versus Reality: A Comparative Study. Mkuki Wa Nyota Publishers: Dar es Salaam.
- 18.
See: Gesami, Brigid. 2022; Vanguard. 2020.
- 19.
MoH, Kenya, 2020.
- 20.
East African Community Secretariat. “Report on EAC Heads of State Consultative Meeting”, Arusha, Tanzania, May 12, 2020.
- 21.
Africa CDC. https://africacdc.org/about-us/our-history/. Accessed December 24, 2022.
- 22.
CDC. “The Africa CDC was Crucial in Responding to Covid-19 Pandemic”, April 13, 2021. https://www.theafricareport.com/79586/the-africa-cdc-was-crucial-in-responding-to-the-Covid-19-pandemic/. Accessed December 24, 2022.
- 23.
African Business. “Tanzania Risks Pariah Status in Covid-19 Response”. Covid19africawatch.org Tanzania, May 27, 2020.
- 24.
Peter Mwai and Christopher Giles. “Corona Virus in Tanzania: What do we know?” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52723594, June 19, 2020.
- 25.
World Health Organization. “Number of Covid-19 Cases in the African Continent”, May 31, 2021.
- 26.
Ibid.
- 27.
Dougherty, James and Robert Pfaltzgraff. 2010. Contending Theories of International Relations: A Comprehensive Survey. Longman: New York.
- 28.
See UN Charter and OAU Charter, and Biswaro, 2012.
- 29.
Ministry of Health, Kenya. “Protocol for Control of Covid-19 at Ground Crossing and Along the Transport Corridor” www.health.go.ke 2020/05.
- 30.
Ministry of Health, ibid.
- 31.
Andrew Mold and Anthony Mveyange. 2020. The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on trade: Recent evidence from East Africa. Policy Brief, Africa Growth Initiative, July 2020.
- 32.
Mold and Mveyange, ibid.
- 33.
The East African. “Rwanda: High Costs, Delays as Rwanda Truckers Stopped Over Covid-19”. September 23, 2020.
- 34.
Patrick Mugo. 2020. “What Uganda and Rwanda got Right That Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi didn’t”. https://www.theelephant.info.
- 35.
Bajunirwe, et al. 2020.
- 36.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s address about the state of Covid-19 in Kenya. https://www.ingsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/National-Address-by-President-of-Kenya-on-Covid-19.pdf. Accessed December 24, 2022.
- 37.
Albert G. Zentack, Cesar Calderon, Gerald Kambiu, and Megumi Kubota, “Effects of Covid-19 on Trade in Africa”. Africa Pulse, No 22, Fall 2020.
- 38.
Biswaro, 2012.
Bibliography
Biswaro, Joram Mukama. 2012. The quest for regional integration in the twenty first century- rhetoric versus reality: A comparative study. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki Wa Nyota Publishers.
Burchill, Scott, Andrew Linklater, Jack Donnelly et al. 2021. Theories of international relations. 3rd edn, Macmillan: New York.
Dougherty, James, and Robert Pfaltzgraff. 2010. Contending theories of international relations: A comprehensive survey. New York: Longman.
Mold, Andrew and Mveyange, Anthony. 2020. The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on trade: Recent evidence from East Africa. Policy Brief, Africa Growth Initiative, July 2020.
Morgenthau, Hans, Kenneth Thompson, and David Clinton. 2005. Politics among nations. New York: McGraw Hill.
OAU. 1963. Organization of African Unity Charter. OAU, Addis-Ababa.
Oluoch, Ken. 2012. HIV/AIDS in Africa and globally: Reconciling public health and human rights. Saarbrucken: Lambert Academic Publishing.
UN. 1945. United Nations organization charter. New York: UN.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Additional information
This chapter is published posthumously. The editors are forever indebted to Professor Oluoch, who had already submitted this chapter and had submitted it to the publisher before he passed away in March 2022. Professor Peter Simatei (of Moi University) generously worked on the final edits of this chapter in honour of his departed colleague, a former member of Moi’s African Cluster Centre.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Oluoch, K.K. (2023). East African Community Partner States’ Response to Truckers as High-Risk Group in the Context of Covid-19. In: Arndt, S., Banhoro, Y., Lawanson, T., Msindo, E., Simatei, P. (eds) Covid-19 in Africa: Governance and Containment. African Histories and Modernities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36139-5_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36139-5_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-36138-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-36139-5
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)