President Ruto To Issue Directive Reverting Port Operations To Mombasa

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept, 13 – President William Ruto during his inaugural speech after taking the oath of office as Kenya’s fifth president has directed that all port operations be reverted back to the coastal county of Mombasa.

The directive which is to be issued later this afternoon by the president was part of his campaign promises to residents in the coastal counties who lost their jobs and a source of livelihood as a result of the move.

“This afternoon, I will be issuing instructions for clearing of all goods and other attendant operational issues to revert to the port of Mombasa. This restores thousands of jobs in the city of Mombasa,” he said.

The Uhuru Kenyatta-led government in 2017 kicked off the construction of an inland dry port in Naivasha amid protest from local leaders that it would cripple the region’s economy if operations were moved from the port of Mombasa.

Initial plans by the government was to set up further ports along the Northern Corridor, a multi-modal trade route that would link the country’s ports to the hinterlands.

Neighbouring countries were also expected to benefit from the setting up of the inland port with the government saying it would reduce the cost of transportation and ease the movement of goods and services.

Ruto while on the campaign trail accused Kenyatta of setting up the port to benefit a few rich individuals further disenfranchising locals in the Coast despite initially backing the project.

The Naivasha dry port was launched in 2022 by Transport CS James Macharia.

Macharia at the time said the future of cargo from the Kenyan port was rail transport as it would ease transport on the Mombasa Highway.

The transfer of port operations to Nairobi and Naivasha came after the introduction of the standard gauge railway (SGR) freight service.

Mombasa Governor, then Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir, condemned the move saying that the SGR order killed an entire industry, including the economies of the small towns as 27 per cent of Mombasa’s economy in particular was derived from logistics, transport, and warehousing. 

The coming weeks will reveal how Ruto’s plans will fully be implemented.