Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen has stated that his ministry is working with the Ministry of Interior to reduce roadblocks along the Northern Corridor to cut down on the time it takes to transport cargo.
Murkomen made the statement when he held a bilateral meeting with a high-level delegation from Rwanda at Transcom House, Nairobi.
The delegation was led by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in Charge of Regional Cooperation Hon. Gen (Rtd) James Kabarebe .
According to the CS, the meeting sought to bolster cooperation and seek new areas of partnership.
Kenya and Rwanda enjoy decades of bilateral relations and partnerships in trade, agriculture, transport, infrastructure among others.
These sectors have further been strengthened through collaborative engagements between President William Ruto and his Rwandan counterpart President Paul Kagame.
While addressing the delegation, Murkomen stated that his Ministry had already implemented President Ruto’s directive.
The President directed cargo to only be weighed at the port of entry (in Mombasa) and port of exit (Malaba).
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“This effort will be complemented by ongoing plans to extend SGR from Naivasha to Malaba to allow faster safer and seamless transportation of cargo from the Port of Mombasa to our sister countries,” Murkomen stated.
Murkomen on port of Mombasa
He went on to explain the measures and upgrades that the government adopted in Mombasa port to increase its efficiency.
“To enhance efficiency at the Port of Mombasa, the Government installed modern equipment that resulted in increased container traffic from 1.4 million TEUs in 2022 to 1.6M TEUs in 2023, with cargo throughput now standing at 36.9 million metric tonnes up from 33.8 metric tonnes in 2022.”
Murkomen explained the new strategies that the two government have launched to boost the trade between the two countries.
“We held fruitful discussions that centered around the resolution of existing non-tariff barriers, streamlined transportation of cargo along the Northern Corridor, containerization of Inland Container Depots in Naivasha and Malaba, regional integration, and the removal of bureaucratic red tapes that impede trade between the two countries,” stated the CS.
Kenya, Somalia Sign Bilateral Air Services Agreement
In 2023, the Kenyan government signed Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) with the neighboring Federal Republic of Somalia.
Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, in a statement, confirmed that the two nations reached consensus months after they reviewed the agreement in March.
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“The delegations of the Federal Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Kenya, met in Nairobi on the 20th and 21st day of March 2023 to review the text of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between the two Contracting Parties,” stated Murkomen.
“The delegations finalized and agreed to initial the text of the new Air Services Agreement, which we signed this afternoon at Transcom House, Nairobi.”
CS Murkomen also revealed that the agreement was to streamline air services within the two previously conflicting nations. It was signed alongside his Somalian counterpart, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Fardowsa Osman Egal.
The agreement was based upon four pillars including Traffic rights, frequency and capacity, codeshare, and the Technical Cooperation Agreement (TCA).
