And now, IGIHE has brought out the special features of the life of those people who always have their travel passports in their pockets as if they were diplomats. They spend their days and nights on the roads for long cross-border travels transporting goods from countries to countries.
They always have cash on them, not because they are rich but to put up temporary residence all along their ways. You will find them putting saucepans on stoves in their parkings. They eat their food beneath the parked lorries, pray God from there and keep all their stuffs there. They sleep in there and you will find some with mosquito nets in there. To them, a lorry is their second but mobile home.
Making children all the way is creating cities
Some of them get concubines on their ways. They call the practice making new homes and headquarters in the form of creating cities. But most of them will now tell you the practice is outdated especially because there are young people among them who say they are committed to their bright future.
Hussein Yusuph Kabale, an experienced driver having a wife and five children in Dar-es-Salaam, says a lot has changed in the 21st century and their profession has followed the new era.
“Sometime back, lorry drivers were making concubines all their way in what we called creating cities but a lot has changed. You cannot attain any development with that practice,” he said.
“The vehicle is a residence itself. It requires meals, drinks, sleeping… a lot that you can’t add the third residence. Where can we find those means?”
Their travel allowances differ but some say they receive at least $400 that they use for a weeklong or longer travels.
Ismael Rachid Lijonjo, 18, says he joined the lorry driving job at a young age because he got passion in it in his childhood and decided to side with the drivers to learn from them.
Quick customs services in Rwanda earn them savings
Mr. Kabale says they are often faced with delays on the way that chop up their pocket money but Rwanda’s customs help them save from their allowances.
“Though we often face different hurdles like accidents and eating up our money before reaching the destination, the good thing I see in Rwanda is the quick services at the customs. It helps us save money because when the boss gives me money for a week and I spend two days on the way, I remain with a good package to take home. Anyone smiles when he is told to drive to Rwanda because they know the benefits,” he says.
Bakhressa Bakhar Katema, who has been driving lorries for 40 years, says since he started driving in the region, he has never seen good leadership like he is witnessing in Rwanda.
He says that Rwanda’s before 1994 period was marked by a bad experience whereby soldiers and other government’s armed forces were harassing drivers, something that is no more among the current forces.
“Whenever our lorries were involved in accidents, the forces would say that the foreign vehicle is wrong and punish its driver and leave the local ones walk free. But it has now changed, we are only required to respect the laws,” he says.
Offended by adultery allegations
These drivers say they always feel bad when people allege them with cheating their spouses. They say one of the reasons that make them remain long in the job is that they walk away from adultery practices which can attract the curse from their families while driving a lorry also requires a stable and attentive mind.
Yusuph and Bakhressa Bakhar share the point that as their feet pose on the lorry accelerator and brakes, their hearts go out to their families and that they don’t have time to waste looking for women on their way.
Appeal for action against thieves in Musha
The drivers say they often incur losses over the thieves who cut out the sealed well labels on the trucks on an uphill road in Musha, Rwamagana District.
“There are thieves who try to loot from our trucks but they haven’t managed to steal the goods. They just cut out the sealing metals and we face up to $2,000 fines on each. It is a threat to us,” says Bakressa.
Mayor of Rwamagana, Mbonyumuvunyi Rajab, said that they are going to tighten security in the area to stop those thieves threatening lorry drivers.
Despite the threats in Musha, the drivers say the security in Rwanda is higher than in any other country they operate.
They say that they meet in countries like Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania many hurdles such as being forced to bribe police officers, bad roads and poor services.
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