NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 8 – The Senate National Cohesion, Integration and Equal Opportunities Committee has raised concern over alleged mismanagement and poor infrastructure at the Busia One Stop Border Post (OSBP), where travelers are being forced to pay to access public toilets constructed using taxpayer funds.Moses Maina, who has been a truck driver for thirteen years along the transnational highway passing through Kenya-Uganda-Rwanda and DR Congo expressed his frustrations at the hands of the Ugandan authorities.“We have only this yard as a waiting bay which as you can see its very small compared to the numbers of truck that pass by this route and its barely enough causing a snarl-up,”Maina stated.Maina explained that many drivers passing through the Busia border from Uganda not only get mugged by marauding youths but are also forced to bribe the authorities to pass through in time.“We are having many issues at the border especially from the Ugandan side. They create unnecessary grid lock so that you part with some money. At times they force the drivers into a private parking bay,” he said.Truck drivers and small-scale traders interviewed at the border cited long queues, poor drainage, and inadequate amenities as major frustrations.The committee, chaired by Marsarbit Senator Mohammed Chute, took issue with the poor state of infrastructure at the border, citing narrow roads, limited parking, and inadequate clearance points as major causes of congestion and trade delays.According to KRA’s Busia Border Manager, Hussein Mohammed, the congestion is primarily caused by insufficient infrastructure.“One of the main challenges is that our roads are narrow, with only one entry and one exit gate for trucks going to Uganda,” he said. “At any given time, only one officer can clear one truck, which significantly slows down operations. If the roads were wider, we could create more lanes and increase efficiency.”Mohammed added that the yard space is also limited, forcing some trucks to park along the road.“We can only accommodate about 40 trucks at a time. The verification areas are close to the road, and trucks often have to reverse into parking, which takes several minutes,” he said.Despite the infrastructural challenges, the KRA has recorded consistent revenue growth at the Busia post. In the 2023/2024 financial year, the post collected Sh 4.1 billion against a target of Sh 4.8 billion.In 2024/2025, it surpassed its target of Sh 5.33 billion by collecting Sh 6.83 billion. For the current financial year 2025/2026, the target is Sh 9.1 billion, and Sh 3.9 billion has already been collected in the first quarter.Senators questioned why such high collections have not translated into better services or infrastructure. “You cannot be collecting billions and still have citizens queuing for days, drivers sleeping in trucks, and people paying to use toilets.It paints a bad image of our country,”the committee chair noted.The house team expressed outrage during an inspection visit after it emerged that the public sanitation facilities at the busy transnational crossing have been outsourced to a private operator who charges users to access them.‘When we came to the Kenyan airport, even the toilets were leaking and the doors were not closing and so many issues were there. And then today we come to this border and we are being told that if somebody is sick and he wants to go and help himself, you have to pay. This is a very serious issue,” said the committee chair.Busia Border Management officials confirmed that the arrangement has existed since the facility’s inception, with the toilets managed privately under unclear terms.“This has been the practice since the OSBP was established. The building was done by the national government, but a private operator manages the toilets,” Mohammed told senators.However, senators questioned the legality and justification of the arrangement with Nominated Senator Beth Syengo who raised the matter terming the agreement exploitative.“Despite the fact that we are looking for the resources, there are some things that we need to consider, especially for a public place like this where at the end of the day the driver is giving us some revenues out of the goods that they are transiting,”the nominator senator decried.Nominated Senator Joyce Korir termed the practice exploitative, saying the issue of cleanliness could not justify charging citizens to access essential facilities.“Yes, we understand the need to maintain hygiene, but that is not an excuse to charge people.The government can still manage and keep the place clean without outsourcing such services. This is a public facility that should serve the public freely,” Korir stated.An inspection of the facility established that the sanitation standards were below par with the workers paid out of commission.Senator Chute directed KRA to terminate the private arrangement within three days and restore public access to the facilities. “This is a government institution.You cannot allow private individuals to make money from government property. It must stop immediately and we have given the management seven days to implement this,” the Marsabit Senator said.The committee assured that the government will engage relevant government agencies to address the infrastructural and staffing gaps to ensure conducive working conditions.