KRA system failures cited for port delays

BUSINESS DAILY

The Northern corridor stakeholders have asked the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to improve its clearing systems so as to avert delays in clearing cargo in different port entries along the corridor.

The Northern Corridor stakeholders have asked the Kenya Revenue Authority to improve its clearing systems so as to avert delays in clearing cargo in different port entries along the corridor.

Mombasa port and Northern Corridor chairman, who is also Shippers Council Of Eastern Africa CEO, Agayo Ogambi, and Kenya Ports Authority managing director Capt William Ruto said increasing cargo at the port needs faster cargo clearing to facilitate trade with fallback system in case of system downtime.

‘’Mombasa port, all its indicators are positive but we need to address the scanner issues and persistent system failure, ‘’ said Mr Ogambi.

‘’In the past two years, Mombasa port has increased its throughput, and it has aligned itself to the charter, hence facilitating trade not only in Kenya but to other East African Countries.’’

Early this month, several consignment missed their vessels, including tea, due to the hitches affecting the integrated Custom Management System (iCMS) without having an alternative system to clear the cargo.

Mr Ruto, on the other hand, said the port of Mombasa is poised to set new records following the port’s improved performance between January and October 2024.

‘’By the end of October, the port handled 33,779,255 tonnes against 29,662,851 tonnes registered in a similar period in 2023 representing an increase of 4,116,404 tonnes representing 13.9 percent growth, he said.

He attributed the achievement to expending sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, and construction.

‘’Several global trend have also favoured Mombasa, the swift towards larger vessels, due to their economies of scale, has driven ports worldwide to adapt,’’ he added.

The KPA boss said due to the demand of East African Trade, the authority initiated major upgrades, notably deepening the harbor in2013 to accommodate ships with up to 10,000 TEUS (
twenty-foot equivalent units).

The port banked on the openings of the second container terminal (CT2) in 2016 with a 300 meter quay named berth 21 followed by Berth 22 meaning more space for cargo, whilst anticipating ships of length overall of about 300 meter, adding further capacity and easing congestion.

Additionally, plans for berth 23 and a specialized berth at the Dong Kundu Special Economic Zone are in place to ensure continued competiveness.

Data released this week shows the main driver of the performance was containerized cargo which increased by 3,120,884 tonnes or 21.1 percent, Liquid Bulk also increased by 697,648 tonnes or 9.0 percent. The performance surpassed the set target of 32,151,000 by 1,628,255 tonnes or 5.1 percent.

Similarly, in terms of container traffic, the port handled 1,643,240 TEUS against 1,322,999 TEUs handled in the same period in 2023, posting a positive variance of 1,877,014 tonnes or 20.2 percent.

Uganda was mainly responsible for the increase in performance, growing  1,526,169 tonnes or 26.5 percent.

With just two months remaining to the end year, the port which last year cumulatively witnessed container traffic 1,623,080 TEUs, is on track to exceed its revised target of 1.8 million TEUs and is projected to achieve 1.972 million TEUs in container traffic.

Current projections for the end of 2024 indicate that the port of Mombasa will handle approximately 40,535 million tonnes in cargo throughput, 480,241 TEUs in transshipment traffic and 13,416 million tonnes in transit traffic.

The performance can be attribute to new trends like green channel cold chain logistics, shifting perishables from air to sea, increase in transshipment business and efficiency at the port of Mombasa.