Step up operations at Mombasa Port, Kamau orders State agencies

By PATRICK BEJA

Kenya: A Cabinet Secretary has decried chronic inefficiency in the movement of cargo from the port of the Mombasa and challenged State agencies to improve their operations.

Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau particularly cited the frequent gridlock of trucks between the port and Mariakani weighbridge, and continued decline in the capacity of the Rift Valley Railways to move cargo as contributing to overall inefficiency at the port.

He told State agencies that even as the Government fast tracked the programme to modernise railway infrastructure, they should reposition the port to reclaim its place as the gateway to East and Central Africa by making it efficient.

“We should jealously guard the position of the port as the gateway to East Africa by minimising goods dwell-time and attracting more imports and exports,” he said, adding that the congestion between the port and Mariakani weighbridge must end to ensure faster movement of cargo.

Congestion

Early this month, the World Bank raised concern over congestion affecting the port of Mombasa and warned that landlocked countries were lobbying for the construction of an alternative seaport outside Kenya.

Mr Kamau said the concession of the railway had not yielded positive results as RVR capacity to move cargo had declined from 1.5 million tonnes since inception seven years ago to less than a million tonnes currently, leaving most of the port cargo to be moved by trucks.

He called for seamless connectivity to ensure the port remained competitive and responsive to the needs of users. The Secretary spoke when he toured port processes such as the container scanning area and the one-stop cargo clearance centre.

He said he would later tour the Mariakani weighbridge where truck operators had often parked lorries on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway to protest alleged corruption at the facility. He said maximum tonnage on trucks had been increased from 48 tonnes.