Inland container depot in Kisumu remains idle as transporters favour moving goods by road. PHOTO | FILE
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Traders attributed the trend on unreliable rail services between Nairobi and Kisumu and improved roads connecting the two locations.
Cargo owners in western Kenya have shunned rail transport in favour of roads, leaving the Kenya Ports Authority-run inland container depot in Kisumu idle.
Road transport remains the preferred mode of shipment between Nairobi and the lakeside down, new data by KPA showed.
In 2014, the container depot located in Kisumu’s Kibos area only handled 74 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), about 176 per cent drop from the previous year’s 204 TEUs.
Traders attributed the trend on unreliable rail services between Nairobi and Kisumu and improved roads connecting the two locations.
“The condition of roads linking Nairobi and western Kenya have highly improved over the past few years and more work is ongoing to upgrade a few remaining areas on the route. On the contrary, railway transport has not performed to the expectation of many and they are taking to shipment by trucks instead,” said Ahmed Ibrahim, a transporter on the route.
Key roads such as the Nairobi-Nakuru and Kericho-Mau Summit-Kisumu have been undergoing major reconstruction and expansion, making it easier and faster for users.
Rail shipment on the other hand is constrained by the nature of the railway line between Nairobi and Kisumu. Goods are currently transshipped at Nakuru because the track cannot support main-line wagons. The line can only sustain six wagons at a time.
Rail cargo transport, however, remains vibrant between Mombasa and Nairobi, statistics showed, keeping the KPA container in Embakasi busy.
The inland depot in Nairobi handled 37,720 TEUs of cargo in 2014, despite a drop from the 46,888 handled the previous year. The depots are critical in easing congestion around the port of Mombasa because traders can move their cargo there as they await shipment to various destinations.
The Mombasa port is still battling congestion that managers fear could lower its competitiveness.
Last week, KPA said that despite being granted a waiver by the Kenyan government, Ugandan traders are still not clearing their cargo at the port of Mombasa. Managing director Gichiri Ndua told a meeting with traders in Kampala that uncollected cargo would be auctioned or destroyed when a deadline to clear them lapses.
In an earlier notice, Uganda Revenue Authority informed traders that they had from February 15 until April 15 (60 days), to enjoy the waiver which allows them to clear their overstayed cargo without paying the accumulated port and storage charges.
“As of March 4, 2015, there were 2,435 containers for Uganda customers that have been at the port beyond 21 days. And of the 2,435, 293 units (393 TEUs) have been at the port for more than three months.” Mr Ndua told the meeting held last Monday.
“It is apparent that many cargo owners have not responded to the amnesty accorded to specified Uganda cargo in the port scheduled to expire by April 15, 2015. Please take urgent steps and clear the cargo before they are auctioned to create space for business,” he said.
A long-running feud between Ugandan traders and Kenyan authorities over the auction of uncollected cargo at the Mombasa port has already been escalated to the East African Community leadership amid claims of unfairness.
Uganda has accused Kenya of imposing a new non-tariff barrier by “selectively auctioning” its goods held at the port of Mombasa.
