Calls for the folding of Kenya Maritime Authority are misplaced and misguided, maritime experts have said.
This comes after Likoni residents on Wednesday said they want KMA to be placed under Kenya Ports Authority, just as the Kenya Ferry Services was.
They lauded President William Ruto for ordering the folding of 47 state corporations, saying some were loss-making but continue to gobble up billions of shillings in taxpayers’ money.
“One of them is Kenya Maritime Authority. I believe Kenya Maritime Authority should be a department under Kenya Ports Authority,” Michael Magak said.
KMA has done little to improve the lives of Likoni residents and Mombasa at large, they said, decrying heads of parastatals for "eating with big spoons while ordinary Kenyans are sleeping hungry".
"This is what contributes to protests by Gen Zs.”
But the Authority cannot close shop arbitrarily.
International Transport Workers Federation inspector Betty Makena said KMA exists based on global laws under the International Maritime Organization.
IMO is the UN agency responsible for regulating international shipping.
It is tasked with developing rules related to safety and security of maritime transportation, as well as water pollution.
“IMO states that every country with a water body must have a regulator. In our case, the regulator is the KMA. KPA is an operator. A regulator cannot be under an operator,” Makena told the Star on Thursday.
KMA regulates all ships that get into the Mombasa and Lamu ports while the KPA oversees all port services.
“KMA is responsible for coming up with laws and regulations to regulate how vessels should operate within our territorial waters and how they get into the port.
KMA chair Hamisi Mwaguya said the existence of maritime authorities across the world is an international requirement, just as their separation from the operators is.
“KMA’s role also goes beyond ports, seafaring, ferries and boats. It is also about ship building training, colleges, among other things,” Mwaguya said.
He outlined the authority's achievements, while noting that sometimes, these "go unnoticed because Kenyans typically focus too much on politics".
The authority pushed for the reduction of the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping fees from Sh35,000 to Sh15,000.
STCW is a basic requirement and seafarers cannot board any vessel without it.
Free training for coxswains and the recognition of prior learning was also championed by KMA.
“If you do the math, KMA has saved a lot of money for a lot of people by training them for free. That is about Sh480 million saved for the hustlers Coast residents,” he said.
Over 5,000 boat and vessel operators across the Coast region alone have benefitted from the free training, which is conducted by KMA.
Training as a coxswain costs about Sh96,000.
“We have coxswains who have been doing it for over 30 years but lack that certificate. But they have been taken through training workshops and seminars on the aspects maritime requirements like safety free of charge,” he said.
“This takes two or three weeks and one has a recognised certificate. All that is courtesy of KMA.”
Plans to extend the same to other parts of the country including Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana are in the next phase.