Uhuru makes second impromptu visit to ICD, warns consolidators

President Uhuru Kenyatta accompanied by CS Matiangi and departmental heads at ICD, Nairobi (PHOTO: Courtesy)

NAIROBI, KENYA: President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered the vetting of consolidators at the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi to weed out tax cheats.

In his second impromptu visit to the Embakasi ICD today, the President said unscrupulous businesspersons were responsible for the delay in clearing goods at the facility.

His visits follow complaints by traders whose goods have been confiscated. CS Matiang’i, PS Kibicho and heads of the multi-agency task force, accompanied him.

“Part of the problem is due to businessmen doing consolidation, they bring their cargo here and pretend that it is meant for other markets such as Uganda, South Sudan to avoid taxes; If we don’t pay taxes, how will we run the government?” President Uhuru posed.

“All consolidators will be vetted by KRA and gazetted to weed out cartels in the industry, we will meet again in the next three weeks to review the progress,” he said.

President Uhuru first visited the depot Monday morning at around 6:00 AM before returning later in the afternoon.

Truckers and importers have in the past complained about the long delays in clearing cargo at the Inland Container Depot, Nairobi.