NAIROBI: Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has announced plans to develop Shimoni Port on Kwale’s Indian Ocean coast and Kisumu Port on the shores of Lake Victoria. The ports will then be placed under the management of the State Corporation.
Port receives goods between Kenya, Zanzibar and Pemba and is managed by various Government departments, including Kenya Wildlife Services and Immigration Department. The port in Kisumu is managed by Kenya Railways. Speaking during a KPA stakeholders meeting in Nairobi, KPA Chairman Marsden Madoka said surveys on the two facilities had been carried out and consultants had already compiled reports to advice on the way forward. Meanwhile, KPA Managing Director Catherine Mturi-Wairi has disclosed that last year KPA handled 27.26 million tonnes of cargo up from 26.73 million in 2015, a growth of 2.4 per cent. She said container traffic alone recorded an increase of 15,253 TEUs (Twenty Feet Equivalent) from 1.07 million TEUs handled in 2015 to 1.091 million TEUs in 2016. “Performance in the first seven months of this year has also been promising as we have continued to witness an overall positive growth compared to last year’s corresponding period,” she said. The port handled 17.52 million tonnes up from 15.66 million registered in the corresponding period in 2016.
