Port’s biggest threat is illegal trade, says President Kenyatta

President Uhuru Kenyatta flanked by the Japanese Ambassador to Kenya Toshitsugu Uesawa, Managing Director of Kenya Ports Authority Catherine Muturi  flags off at the port of Mombasa on Saturday,03rd September 2016.Uhuru was officially commissioning the first phase of the Mombasa Port Second Container terminal at the port of Mombasa.PHOTO BY MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD

Employees of state agencies are colluding with police to steal cargo at the port of Mombasa, President Uhuru Kenyatta said yesterday.

He noted that these thefts involved employees of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Revenue Authority KRA and police.

The President was speaking when he launched the first phase of the second Container Terminal in Mombasa. He said the Port of Mombasa and that in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania would complement regional trade.

Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam Port is not a threat to Mombasa Port, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared yesterday as he launched phase 1 of the second Container Terminal. And for the first time, Uhuru addressed reports that relations between Kenya and Tanzania have plummeted in part due to economic competition.

Kenya and Tanzania have not exchanged bilateral visits by Heads of State since last year’s election of President John Pombe Magufuli, whose nationalist economic activities have estranged Tanzania from its East African nations, especially Kenya.

Unlike the 2013 commissioning of berth 19 at Mombasa Port when three East African presidents accompanied Uhuru, no foreign leader except Japan’s ambassador to Kenya Tatsusho Terada attended yesterday’s function. Japan funded construction of the terminal.

Uhuru said he does not think East African nations are engaged in destructive competition, adding that the biggest threat to Mombasa Port is corruption and not the Dar es Salaam port.

He said Mombasa and Dar ports compliment each other and ongoing expansion in the two facilities is healthy for the region.

“The biggest threat for Mombasa is cargo theft and illegal trade. Dar es Salaam or any other East African port is not a threat. These facilities complement each other,” said Uhuru. He said some employees of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Revenue Authority KRA and police were colluding with unscrupulous businessmen to steal cargo from the port.

Last month, more than 15 people including KRA, KPA, Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) workers and a clearing agent were charged in Mombasa in connection to the disappearance of containers and alleged tax evasion.

A multi-agency team investigating the fraud says 124 containers disappeared and more suspects are expected to be arraigned in court when the investigation is completed. KRA said it lost more than 100 million in the scam.

Yesterday, Uhuru said: “We will not continue with the status quo.” He added: “Action must be taken.”

DP William Ruto said the ongoing expansion and modernisation of the port was key to Kenya’s and the region’s economy.

Uhuru said the ongoing construction of the Voi-Taveta road will open a new corridor to Tanzania and Burundi and cut the distance between Mombasa and Bujumbura by 358 kilometers.

 “As East African countries, we will remain united because East Africa is not in competition with itself, it is in competition with other regions,” he said. The new Sh30 billion terminal with a capacity 550,000 now increases the ports capacity to 1.6 million Twenty Equivalent Units (TEUs).