Residents' long wait for reopening of Sh3bn Kisumu port

For residents of Kisumu, 2020 was the year they were going to witness massive opening up of the lakeside and East African Community region following the refurbished Sh3 billion Kisumu port.

But, as they eagerly await to witness first-hand the benefits of the newly refurbished port, its official re-opening and economic operationalisation to the public remain a wait and see affair, more than a year later.

To make matters worse, the issue continues to be shrouded in secrecy following the limited and exclusive access given to only the Head of State Uhuru Kenyatta, the African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development Raila Odinga and other top government officials. The reason that is given? Security issues.

Not even the media have been given a chance to enter the Kisumu port.

Rehabilitation of the port had four components — water hyacinth removal and management, dredging of the port and a 63km long canal, complete with navigational aids and upgrading of the port to handle 4,000 containers.

The fourth component was resuscitating the 216km Kisumu-Nakuru meter gauge railway. 

Currently, only two components are being undertaken — upgrading of the port and resuscitation of the railway line.

Rehabilitation on course

Recently, Mr Odinga, after a meeting with Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o and his Kakamega counterpart Wycliffe Oparanya, said rehabilitation of the port was on course.

“The physical construction of phase one of Kisumu Port is almost complete but there is still work to be done before the port is ready for proper commercial use,” said Mr Odinga.

He said dredging of the lake is to begin soon as part of clearing the gulf.

“Dredging of the port has taken quite a bit of time but now the President has given instructions that the work must start under the supervision of the Kenya Navy. This is to start shortly,” said Mr Odinga.

The dredging of the port will make it possible for big ships to berth.

He said Mbita Causeway will be re-opened to deal with pollution of the lake and allow the gulf to breathe.

Work had already started at more than 11 feeder ports on Lake Victoria but the activities later went silent.

In most of the piers, water levels fell due to siltation and water hyacinth, making it difficult for ships to dock but dredging is set to be carried out along the shores of all the feeder jetties to increase their depth.

Meter gauge railway

The ODM party chief also said construction of the meter gauge railway from Nakuru to Kisumu will help in moving goods.

This, he said, is a temporary measure before the standard gauge railway is extended to Kisumu.

Rehabilitation work is set to cost Sh3.7 billion and is being carried out by the Kenya Defence Forces in partnership with the Kenya Railways Corporation.

“When this work is over, they will start doing the Kisumu-Butere metre gauge railway so that the entire old railway network is completely useable to Butere which will open up this region to investments. So, something is being done in this region to create employment,” said Mr Odinga.

While little is known about the status of the project, including controversy on its funding, on December 3, 2020, however, State House, through its Twitter handle, revealed the current status of the construction of Kisumu port and rehabilitation of marine vessel Uhuru.

According to the reports, the 180-tonne, 91-metre long MV Uhuru cargo carrier is said to have made more than 26 round trips since it was repaired at the Kisumu dry dock.

Mr Sudi Mwasinago, the Kisumu port manager, said: “MV Uhuru has made 26 round trips to Uganda’s Port Bell, transporting more than 21.3 million litres of fuel products.” 

“In one trip, it takes an amount equal to 30 lorries, taking more than one week to reach Uganda while MV Uhuru takes only 17 hours,” said Mr Mwasinago.

In August, statistics revealed that Kisumu handled 17,735 tonnes of cargo in 2019, a 62 per cent rise due to improved efficiency and surge in trade.

The number of vessels utilising the port also increased to 41 in 2019 compared to 19 the previous year, representing a 116 per cent jump.

Kenya Ports Authority acting Managing Director Rashid Salim revealed that there will be more activities especially on ship building at the port’s dry dock.

There is already a one-stop shop for government agencies established at the port, including Kenya Revenue Authority.

Delays in operationalising the port have also been blamed on Uganda’s prolonged delay in completing the construction of an oil jetty on its side of Lake Victoria.

The Sh1.7 billion Kisumu oil jetty was itself completed more than two years ago but has remained idle.

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