Kenya woos Uganda, Rwanda to Mombasa port

UGANDA, Rwanda and South Sudan have supported Kenya’s move to offer end-toend logistics services, even as clearing and forwarding agents protested the move that potentially locks them out of business.

In the latest efforts to make the Northern Corridor more efficient and serve landlocked countries to compete with Dar es Salaam port, officials of the three countries met with their Kenyan counterparts and agreed on a number of issues to make them use Naivasha inland container depot.

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) had opposed the idea, but it has been given mandate to offer end-to-end logistics services after the government completed procurement of more than 250 railway wagons and entered into an agreement with some transporters to offer last mile services through a tender advertised sometime last year.

But clearing and forwarding agents say this is a return to compulsory railage of over 11.5 metric tonnes cargo destined for regional countries.

The matter was the subject of court cases between the agents and the past government. But Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) executive secretary Omae Nyarandi said the policy, if implemented correctly, will serve regional countries better and reduce the transportation distance by more than 1200 kilometres. But he also admitted that there are a number of issues to be addressed first. “In the past, it failed because last mile issues were not addressed but, with some transporters having been picked to do that, it will attract more landlocked countries. But the issue of how KPA will enter the cargo in a single window system.