Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has revealed that cargo will only be weighed at the Port of Mombasa and Malaba in line with orders issued by President William Ruto.
In a statement issued on Friday, February 16, after meeting Rwanda's Minister of State for EAC and Regional Affairs James Kabarebe, Murkomen noted the trucks will not be weighed on various weighbridges along highways.
It was revealed that the directive was already being implemented and was aimed at reducing the time taken by the trucks on the highways.
Murkomen expounded that the move would boost trade between Kenya and her neighbours in the East African Community (EAC) block.
"Kenya and Rwanda enjoy decades-long bilateral relations and partnerships in trade, agriculture, transport and infrastructure, tourism, energy and many more, that have further been strengthened through collaborative engagements between H.E. President William Ruto and H.E. President Paul Kagame," Murkomen stated.
On the other hand, he divulged that his ministry was working with the Ministry of Interior to ensure that other red tapes that were delaying the movement of goods were removed.
'We held fruitful discussions that centred around the resolution of existing non-tariff barriers, streamlined transportation of cargo along the Northern Corridor, containerisation of Inland Container Depots in Naivasha and Malaba, regional integration, and the removal of bureaucratic red tapes that impede trade between the two countries.
"I informed the delegation that the Ministry has already implemented H.E. President Ruto's directive to allow cargo to only be weighed at the port of entry (in Mombasa) and port of exit (Malaba) even as we work with the Ministry of Interior to reduce roadblocks along the Northern Corridor to cut down on the time it takes to transport cargo," read the statement in part.
In a bid to improve trade in the region, the CS detailed that the government would be actualising the extension of the SGR to Uganda to boost the movement of goods.
Currently, trucks headed to Rwanda rely on highways along the Mombasa-Nairobi-Kisumu-Busia-Uganda route for the passage of goods from the Port of Mombasa.
Meanwhile, the SGR extension is set to begin this year with the Ruto administration earmarking the Nakuru-Kisumu line as the first phase of the project.
Upon completion, the entire route will be connected to the Port of Mombasa for the seamless movement of cargo containers.
"To enhance efficiency at the Port of Mombasa, the government installed modern equipment that resulted in increased container traffic from 1.4 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (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," the CS added.
