•In a joint communique on Friday, KRA and KPA said verification of transshipment cargo has been dealt away with, with immediate effect.
•KPA and KRA will also have three weeks to develop a regulatory framework for licensing and performance evaluation.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Ports Authority have effected President William Ruto’s directives aimed at improving efficiency at the Port of Mombasa.
Last month, the President issued a number of orders among them 24-hour operations by the two and other state agencies, reducing weighbridges along the Northern Corridor (Mombasa-Malaba) and addressing red tape on cargo verification.
In a joint communique on Friday, KRA and KPA said verification of transshipment cargo has been done away with, with immediate effect.
The President had also issued a two-week ultimatum for the corporations to resolve bureaucracy issues on bunkering, which the two entities said has been dealt with.
Bunkering is the supplying of fuel for use by ships, including the logistics of loading and distributing the fuel among available shipboard tanks.
Kenyans were this month forced to pay higher fuel prices after a bunkering hitch, which led to demurrage charges.
This inflated fuel prices by Sh1.7 billion, according to Energy and Petroleum CS Davis Chirchir.
“This joint meeting is in line with the directive of President William Ruto, who had directed, during the recent stakeholders meeting he held at the Port of Mombasa, that all government agencies operating in the Port, must ensure seamless operations to boost revenue collection and optimize Port performance,” read the joint communique.
Goods meant for exports will now be verified outside the Port of Mombasa in new changes.
The reforms will also see overstayed cargo with missing documents re-shipped to the country of origin.
However, overstayed cargo with viable documents will be auctioned within the timelines provided in the law.
To further improve efficiency, the two corporations will implement a framework to lodge manifests at the port of loading, to facilitate pre-arrival clearance of cargo and advance receipt of import.
KPA and KRA will also have three weeks to develop a regulatory framework for licensing and performance evaluation.
On Monday, the agencies will meet to discuss the improvement of scanner technology at points of entry and exit.
This will include plans to acquire modern scanning equipment through Private Public Initiatives, with talks already underway.
Ruto's directives are seen to be part of efforts to ensure Mombasa remains the leading harbour in East Africa.
There has been renewed rivalry between Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, which has been aggressive in making gains on transit cargo into the region.
Mombasa has lost about 10 per cent of transit business to Dar es Salaam in the last two year, industry data by the Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA) shows, even as Kenya remains the main trade route in the region.
“Mombasa used to command up to 70 per cent of business but this has gone down to about 61 or 60 per cent. It has lost to Dar es Salaam but we are working towards regaining that,” SCEA chief executive and the Mombasa Port and Northern Corridor Community Charter chair, Gilbert Lang’at, told the Star.
Two major corridors with the main one being the 1,700 kilometre long Northern Corridor, that runs between Mombasa (Kenya), Uganda Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern DRC, serve the East African Community (EAC) market.
The 1,300-kilometre-long Central Corridor serves Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Eastern D.R. Congo, with an exit and entry point at the port of Dar-es-Salaam.