KENYAN PORTS ARE BACK IN BUSINESS

'TRANSPORT MINISTER' ASSURES

UGANDA OF SMOOTH CARGO FLOW

Coastweek - - Kenya Government has assured Ugandan businessmen that the entire northern corridor section in Kenya is safe and secure for all cargo moving to and from the port of Mombasa.
Speaking in Kampala, Uganda, the minister of transport, Hon. Ali Chirau Mwakwere said 'total normalcy' had also returned to port operations adding that the port was now allowing all transit cargo to leave its gates on a 24 hour basis.
The minister said that it was sad that the post election skirmishes in Kenya had interrupted business transactions with Uganda which was Kenya's leading trading partner; Uganda is also Kenya's top trading partner.

Minister Mwakwere said that it was this strong relationship that has made it critical for him and other top Kenyan executives to come out in person to give assurance to all port customers and stakeholders that key steps have been put in place to smoothen transportation and secure safe cargo passage.
Leading a Kenyan delegation to the Kenya and Uganda bilateral consultations on trade and transport, Hon. Mwakwere likened the turmoil experienced in Kenya to a 'wake up' call.
He said it had taught Kenyans to be extremely vigilant because of disruptions it caused to the economies of not only Kenya but also to all landlocked countries.

The Uganda acting minister for transport Hon. John Byabagambi lauded the signing of the peace deal in Kenya and said it was a firm pledge that peace had returned to the country and an assurance that normal business could continue.
He said Kenya was an important country in terms of the performance of other regional economies.
Its descent into chaos was a big worry to neighboring countries because the port had been cut off.
Minister Mwakwere was accompanied by the executive secretary of the Northern Corridor Transit Transport Coordination Authority, NCTTCA Godfrey Onyango Matata, Managing Director Kenya Ports Authority Abdalla Mwaruwa, Director General of Kenya Maritime Authority Mrs. Nancy Karigithu, Senior Deputy Secretary of Transport Mrs. Philomena Koech, Managing Director Kenya Pipeline Company George Okungu and the Deputy Managing Director Kenya Railways Corporation Vitalis Ongongo among others.

Hon. Mwakwere's delegation met with top government officials and executives from the private sector alliance of Uganda.
Earlier, executives in the Kenyan delegation took turns in explaining steps taken to return business to normalcy. The two delegations agreed on the need to remove existing non-tariff barriers to trade affecting the two countries.

On his part, Mr. Mwaruwa said the port was now releasing all transit cargo on a 24 hour basis and the same have now been allowed to be transported to the Authority's inland container depots in Nairobi, Kisumu and Eldoret from where they can be collected.
He said Uganda was a dominant user of the port an assured all customers that all cases of delayed cargo n the port due to post election skirmishes had been considered for a general waiver of storage charges.

All other pending cases ,he added, would be scrutinized on a case by case basis.
Mr. Mwakwere disagreed with Kshs.1,700 being levied by the Mombasa Municipal Council on every container at Mariakani. He said it must stop forthwith as it had no legal basis.

Meanwhile Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director Abdalla Mwaruwa has clarified press reports to the effect that the Port of Mombasa is facing imminent cargo congestion following an alleged strike by some private truck loaders.

The strike was being experienced at the private warehouses near the port premises and the authority's management has no direct control over the same.
However, KPA management would like to assure its esteemed clients and the general public that despite the cited strike related unrest Port operations are going on smoothly and no effect of congestion in the port has been felt so far.

The two ships mentioned in the subject article namely, Mv Tourloti and Mv Chopol 2 with a combine tonnage of 46550 tonnes of wheat and sugar are being worked on by two sets of gangs.
Nevertheless, whereas KPA has deployed adequate gangs to hasten the operations, continued lack of trucks to load bagged sugar and wheat consignments will eventually affect the port due to poor off- take, thus causing the cargo buildup.

KPA would therefore wish to ask the concerned parties to amicably solve the dispute in the shortest time possible to avoid the likelihood of congesting the port.