President William Ruto has said the Mombasa Port will be concessioned for efficient service delivery.
Concession is the right to use land or other property for a specified purpose, granted by a government, company, or other controlling body.
Ruto while speaking in Mama Ngina Waterfront, Mombasa during an interdenominational church service said the plan does not mean the Mombasa port will be sold.
"We have agreed that the port will not be privatized. That will not happen. I promised to return the port operations to Mombasa, I have delivered on that," Ruto said.
"Returning the port operations to Mombasa is not enough. We need a port development plan, that is why we have announced a concession plan. This will enable investors to put in their resources to boost logistics and special economic zones," he said.
Ruto said the government is looking for investment at the Mombasa port to increase its capacity and employment opportunities.
“The people working at the port are few, only about 8,000. We want to organise this port, together with the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone, to employ more than 50,000 young people,” Ruto said.
President Ruto said the Mombasa port is a big resource for Kenya but it is doing badly in terms of efficiency, being ranked at number 326 out of 348 ports in the world.
“You see how our issues have gone wrong? Almost last! Because it is has no efficiency. We want it to be top 10,” Ruto said.
To achieve this, he said, efficiency must be increased, the port itself must be expanded and more investors must be sought.
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir on the other hand had said he is against having a private entity running the port without the knowledge of what they are going to do.
Nassir noted that when the port was closed by the previous administration the economy of Mombasa suffered a great deal and it is still on its recovery journey.
"When you make decisions that are going to hamper, one way or the other, the question you need to ask yourself is, were we making losses as a port? no. Is there feasibility that has been done to indicate that you'll be getting more? no." Nassir said.