Punish those behind loss of cargo at the Mombasa Port

Over time, the port of Mombasa has been in the news, but for all the wrong reasons. At the centre of controversies surrounding the port, has been the issue of management. While competency and professionalism should be the determinants in the choice of the port’s leadership, the matter is more often than not, ethnicised and politicised. As a consequence, the port-the largest in East African region by size and volumes of goods cleared- has been saddled with chronic inefficiency.

A surprise night visit at the Port of Mombasa on Saturday by four Cabinet Secretaries, Fred Matiangi, Adan Mohamed, Joe Mucheru and James Macharia revealed the extent of the rot at the port. Congestion, delays and loss of cargo is widespread.

Corruption feeds off these inefficiencies.

Besides upgrading our old railway system that dates back to the start of the 19th century, the establishment of the Standard Gauge Railway targeted improving efficiency at the Mombasa Port, yet today it would seem not much has been achieved. The value we all expected from the SGR: job creation, reducing congestion and delays at the Port of Mombasa, easing passenger and freight movement as well as lowering transport costs remain a far cry. As a regional port, statistics from Kenya Ports Authority show that 76.7 per cent of all transit cargo through Mombasa is destined to Uganda, 10.6 per cent to South Sudan and 5.7 per cent to DR Congo.

What this means is that with rampant inefficiency at the Mombasa Port, these countries will soon find it easy shifting their operations to, say, the Port of Dar es Salaam, and with it, loss of business and revenue for Kenya. Needless to say, increasing efficiency and cargo handling turnaround at the Mombasa Port is not an option, it must be done pronto.

Corruption, the canker that is slowly, but surely bringing the country to its knees must be tackled decisively away from the usual promises of tough action that Kenyans have gotten used to, but which mean nothing at the end of the day.

Investigating and arresting those involved in corruption at the port; a venture that not only dents our country’s image but denies us the much needed revenue, should not be such a daunting task for the investigative arm of the Police Service. They should swing into action. Going forward, Kenyans demand more action, fewer words.