State moves to seal Lake Victoria smugglers’ routes

Studies show that the long distance wholesalers normally travel from Kenya to markets in Uganda like Mbale, Kapchorwa, Sironko and Kasese to buy beans and transport it back using hired lorries to cross the borders without attracting the authority’s attention.

“To beat border officials, Kenyan traders prefer to work in groups, hire stores near the borders on Kenyan side and collect goods from Uganda in smaller quantities until they have enough to supply to far- flung markets in Kitale, Nairobi, Kitui, Machakos and Mombasa. The same trick is used by Ugandan importers to avoid border inspection,” says the report.

The common market to be launched in the region by July, next year, is expected to eliminate all tariffs on locally produced goods being traded in the region but experts say time consuming inspection procedures will still be maintained to ensure they meet the quality specifications as demanded by national statutes.

Increased presence of governance institutions is also expected at border points to ensure aliens do not take advantage of open borders to gain illegal entry into the region.

“The immigration office is focused on strengthening border controls and management to make Kenya secure so as to attract investments,” says the director of immigration services Mr Albert Musasia.

The new border posts will also ensure that counterfeits and goods from non member countries are not passed off as the genuine products into other partner states.

The initiative to set up a formal border post at the shows of Lake Victoria comes against a backdrop of the recent completion of the Lake Victoria transport laws that now binds all the EAC countries.

Earlier, the EAC had mapped water routes to determine safe sailing paths with the view to introduce a passenger transport across the lake.

Earlier in the year, Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’ said that the establishment of the boarder points across the lake was one of the measures that had been taken to avert smuggling across the region through water.

He argued then that some of the traders were forced to evade tax not because they saw it too cumbersome to carry the goods to the nearest land crossing point.

Such a move, he added, would be a big boost to the revenue collection and patrolling the waters for illegal immigrants entering the country.

Muhuru is Kenya’s closest land next to the disputed Migingo Island whose ownership raw is pitting her with Uganda.