A pontoon at the Mtongwe ferry services has been swept off by heavy currents in the ocean on Tuesday. This happens just a few days after President Uhuru Kenyatta re-launched the services in Mtongwe last month.
The crumbling of the pontoon has inconvenienced commuters who use the Mtongwe channel. They have been forced to use the Likoni Channel.
Nairobi News reports that the pontoon that was swept away is old and worn out. Hundreds of commuters who use Mtongwe channel were stranded.
Kenya Ferry Services Managing Director Bakari Goa said pillars supporting the pontoon could not withstand the pressure from the heavy currents.
He said they will be using the Likoni Channel in the meantime before the broken Pontoon is repaired.
“We have decided to cross the passengers using the Likoni Channel as we work to return the pontoon which was recovered a few metres away from its original position after it was swept away. We cannot halt the services because people already used to them,” he said as told by Nairobi News.
The re-launch of Mtongwe service in March by Uhuru cannot be forgotten.
This is the time police blocked Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho from accessing the channel where Uhuru was.
The President, at this point, lost his cool and said he was not Joho’s wife.
Joho was forced to return to his office under heavy guard by police.
Commenting about the broken pontoon, Joho said the reason behind him being blocked from attending the event was because he would raise questions about the re-launch of a 30-year old ferry channel.