The government, through the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), has announced a 100 per cent waiver on accrued storage and warehouse rent charges for long-stay containerised cargo at the Port of Mombasa, valid until December 6, 2025.
Through a notice issued on Thursday, November 20, the notice, which was shared by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), revealed that the waiver would only be granted upon the lodging of an application by the affected customers.
The waiver is set to apply up until Saturday, December 6, giving Kenyan importers roughly 14 days to take advantage of the waiver.
“A 100 per cent waiver is being offered on Port Storage Charges and Customs Warehouse Rent for long-stay containerised cargo at the Port of Mombasa,” read the notice in part.
“Members with long stay containerised cargo at the Port of Mombasa are strongly advised to take immediate action and lodge the necessary waiver application with the authorities to benefit from this 100% relief before the deadline of 6th December 2025,” it added.
Further, shipping lines were also directed to issue a 100 per cent waiver on accrued container demurrage charges.
However, KPA noted that the waiver did not apply to all primary port charges, rail freight charges, shipping line fees (delivery order and terminal handling charges) and statutory taxes, which were to remain payable.
Still, this temporary relief addresses frequent delays causing high demurrage costs at East Africa's busiest port, benefiting Kenyan importers and regional traders from Uganda, as confirmed by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) announcements in early November 2025.
Others set to benefit include importers from land-locked countries such as South Sudan, Rwanda and the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which use Mombasa as their main gateway.
Application for the waiver is to be done through official KPA and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) channels, or through licensed clearing agents. Those who manage to utilise the waiver may potentially save millions of shillings in penalty fees.
Normally, when one has a container arriving at the Mombasa Port, they have a few free days, usually seven to nine days, to clear and remove it.
If one does not clear it in time, the port starts charging storage fees, which are also called demurrage or warehouse rent, every day.
These fees add up very quickly and can sometimes cost more than the value of the goods inside the container.
