Reforms to boost transport

Round the clock working is to be introduced at key border points following the introduction of a raft of new transport reforms by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

The port of Mombasa will also be required to remain open 24 hours a day.

President Kibaki gave public officers one week to implement the reforms which will also see the number of police road blocks reduced to the bare minimum required for security reasons.

The new order means that the border entry points at Lunga Lunga, Taveta, Namanga, Isabenia and Malaba will operate on a 24-hour basis to allow free movement of people and goods across the borders with Tanzania and Uganda.

Trucks ban

The President and the PM made the announcements simultaneously on Monday. President Kibaki spoke in Nairobi while Mr Odinga was in Mombasa.

President Kibaki further directed that unnecessary police road blocks that delay the free movement of goods removed. He also directed that trucks with four axle loads be banned from Kenyan roads.

The order is likely to lead to creation of new jobs at the port and border crossings because of increased working hours. It is also expected to increase the life-span of major highways which have in the past been damaged by overloaded trucks.

The President’s directive was immediately welcomed by the Kenya International Freight forwarders and Warehousing Association (KIFWA) Mombasa branch chairman, Mr Peter Otieno.

“We are happy that the Government is now responding to our calls of reducing cargo dwell time at the port and we welcome the news,” he said. He however said that importers of raw materials should not be subjected to unnecessary delays.

“Vehicles should also be released directly with number plates rather than subjecting them to checks that cause delays,” he said. A case on previous attempts to ban vehicles with four axle loads is still pending in court.

The President made the announcement after a meeting with ministers and PSs of Trade, Finance, Security, Immigration, Transport and Roads at his Harambee House office.

According to a dispatch from the Presidential Press Service, the meeting reviewed steps that must be taken to speed up movement of goods along the vital Northern Corridor transport system and other entry points around the country.

The Government further directed that:

• The process of clearing vehicles at weighing bridges be speeded up. Vehicles will be weighed only at source but only in regard to enclosed cargo which must have seals for easy recognition by officials from the ministry of roads and the police.
• Modalities of how to implement the ban on four axle-load vehicles will be announced.
• Police check-points must be reduced to a minimum for security reasons and should be done on an ad-hoc basis.
• The clearance of cargo at the port of Mombasa should be reduced from 48 hours to a maximum of 24 ours.
• The Kenya Ports Authority and Kenya Revenue Authority should immediately harmonise their laws and regulations in regard to cargo clearance.
• KPA should be responsible for collection of demurrage on cargo delayed at the port until the cargo is out of the port.

Monday’s meeting was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Internal Security and Provincial Administration minister George Saitoti, Immigration minister Otieno K’ajwang, Transport minister Chirau Mwakwere, acting Finance minister John Michuki, the Permanent secretaries in the relevant ministries and officials from the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Police Commissioner, Major General Hussein Ali.

Transit cargo

In Mombasa, Mr Odinga ordered KPA to release transit cargo round the clock saying that this was the only way to deal with congestion at the port.

He also said the Government would soon invite proposals for the construction of a free port at Dongo Kundu and a bypass to the South Coast that will ease vehicular pressure on the Kenya Ferry Services at Likoni. Mr Odinga did not however specify when the process would start.

“We want to make the port of Mombasa compete favourably with the Dubai port and the only way to do it is to improve service,” he said.