A sad and disgraceful story of recklessness at Kenya’s busiest ferry crossing channel

Motorists line up in front of open ferry ramps crossing the Kilindini Channel of the Indian Ocean waters in Mombasa County on Friday, October 4, 2019. Danger seems to loom with the ferry prows just hanging on the waters as no chains to hold the cars in case of a slight move. [Maarufu Mohamed, Standard]

Today is day six of search and recovery efforts of the remains of a mother and child who died after their car rolled off a ferry on Mombasa’s Likoni crossing and plunged to the depths of the sea.

Yet, 144 hours later, the grieving husband is yet to receive the bodies of his two departed family members following what looks like an avoidable tragedy.

It has now emerged that the state body in charge of the busiest ferry crossing in the country and other transport authorities ignored clear warning signs.

Frequent stalling, crowding, previous mishaps and an Auditor General’s report were all ignored by the Kenya Ferry Services (KFS), transport authorities such as NTSA and other national or county emergency response teams whose payrolls are funded by the taxpayer.

Often, when the taxpayer needs them most, the authorities have continuously failed the people, and there are little to no repercussions to the ineptitude of office bearers.

The people in whose hands Kenyan lives are entrusted seem not to care.

Just last month, a gigantic oil tanker and a ferry loaded with hundreds of passengers nearly collided, raising concerns over the safety of the Likoni crossing channel in Mombasa.

Near collision

The event in August 2019 was captured in a video. Almost 1,000 passengers would have lost their lives if the collision happened.

After this incident, Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) promised to release a report that would detail circumstances under which such a near collision would happen. Nearly two months later, the report remains under lock and key.

KFS promised to take disciplinary action against the coxswain who was piloting the ferry from the mainland to Mombasa island. KMA asked KFS to train their coxswain and employees on safety at sea.

In March 20, 2019 MV Jambo ferry stalled in the middle of the crossing on its way to Mombasa Island. Even before it started breaking the waves, questions had been raised over the state of this particular vessel.

Despite it being one of the newest and largest in the fleet of vessels operated by KFS, frequent stalling has dogged its tenure at the Likoni Crossing.

On this day, the ferry lost speed and direction before it started drifting in the wrong direction. There were no attempts by any emergency service to ride next to the ferry or calm panicked passengers.

The only consolation for the hundreds of passengers was the coxswain’s voice through the loud speakers telling them the vessel was experiencing “mechanical challenges”.

History shows that the ineptitude runs deeper. Three of the ferries -- MV Harambee, MV Nyayo and MV Kilindini -- are said to have been withdrawn from the international maritime standards body, Lloyd’s Register, in 2007.

The other two, MV Pwani and MV Mvita, which are 50 and 45 years-old respectively, are also said to be unseaworthy and do not appear on any classification body’s register.

MV Harambee, on which mother and daughter were travelling on, was decommissioned in 2015, only to resume operations a year later after a patch-up repair job costing some Sh143 million. 

After last Sunday’s accident, KFS officials admitted that the ramp on MV Harambee was faulty, a key reason why the vehicle carrying the mother and daughter plunged into the sea.

But the physical state of the vessels is not the only thing endangering Kenyan lives. There is the little matter of blatant corruption.

In 2018, the Auditor General said he could not confirm the accuracy of claims of the building and supply of two ferries that cost Sh2 billion.

“It was observed that most of the pulleys on most ferries are defective thus causing the plows to be submerged in water when the ferries are moving. This endangers both pedestrians and motorists,” the Auditor General’s report tabled on July 6, 2018 reads.

The ferries, the Auditor General, says were not insured. “It would be difficult for the company to settle liabilities in case of an accident which requires compensation.”

The country’s collective inability to take personal accountability over recurrent defects continues to breed a culture of impunity.

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia sent out a brief statement after the recent Likoni tragedy.

He also deployed his PS Esther Koimett, who has spent a better part of her working life in the finance world, to head the recovery operations.

Nyali MP Mohammed Ali and Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja have called on Macharia to resign over the tragedy. And then there is the arrogance of office holders.

“The parastatal does not have an emergency team of divers or life guards, we only rely on Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), local divers and the Navy. To have an emergency rescue team is not a small investment,” KFS Managing Director Bakari Gowa said.

Regrettable and unfortunate

Recently, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the National Coast Guard with huge fanfare. The Navy, just next door to the crossing, did not show up at the scene until critical minutes that would have saved lives, had all ticked away.

On Thursday, Transport CAS Chris Obure admitted before the National Assembly Transport Committee that the accident could have been avoided.

“The tragic event on Sunday is regrettable and unfortunate. It’s sad we lost two Kenyans in what could have been avoided,” Obure said.

Yet, even as recovery efforts go on, ferry services continued across the channel with little reassurance to passengers. Safety procedures were still largely ignored.

KMA’s mission is to ensure security, clean and efficient water transport. KPA’s is to maintain, operate and regulate all sea ports. And then there is KFS. All seem paralysed by the shock that has gripped the nation. And in their shock, no solutions are forthcoming. Just excuses and promises of doing better that only seem to be repeated after a tragedy, but are never kept.  

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