Why State's effort to decongest Mombasa Port is dead in the water

In November last year, port stakeholders, led by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), announced a raft of measures aimed at addressing congestion at the Mombasa Port following an increase in cargo during the last quarter of the year.

The measures included implementing a 24-hour port operation to speed up the offtake of cargo from the port. 

However, port stakeholders have expressed concern that the measures have not yet yielded results, as the year ended with more cargo still lying at the port despite the efforts of the KPA and KRA. Sources indicated that although the measures have not been reviewed by the port stakeholders, port congestion remains a challenge, with the hopes of achieving 24-hour port operation remaining elusive. Some of the players have not deployed personnel to ensure the port fully operates around the clock as expected by KPA and KRA.

The Shippers Council of East Africa (SCEA), the body that represents importers and exporters, has called for exceptional measures to clear congestion at the port following a surge in cargo coupled with the holiday season.

The council particularly called for the verification and clearance of cargo at the Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and private Container Freight Stations (CFSs) for the next three months following port congestion.

SCEA Chief Executive Agayo Ogambi noted that there were more than 50,000 containers at Mombasa port and over 20 ships waiting for clearance as of December 31, 2025.

“From 15th January 2026, for three months, there should be no port clearance. KRA and KPA should cooperate and ensure verifications and clearance at ICD Nairobi or CFSs,” he said.

“With the continued increases, we cannot continue operating the same way and expect to decongest the port or even to improve the fluidity and efficiency of the port. All stakeholders should work towards port efficiency and not leave it to KPA alone.”

The Kenya Ships Agents Association (KSAA) confirmed last Friday that 28 container ships were waiting to dock at the port.

KSAA Chief Executive Elijah Mbaru said as of December 31, 2025, there were 25 container ships, two conventional ships, six bulkstream ships and three other ships waiting at the port. 

Mbaru also called for urgent attention to address the delayed rail transport of cargo from the port. He also said KSAA is facing an acute shortage of empty containers in China, the Far East, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Americas, the Mediterranean region, and the Indian subcontinent, which is choking the supply chain and global trade.

“As KSAA, we request KPA to load exports as per the booking forecast we send to them. The Chinese New Year is coming in February/March 2026; we will have more congestion issues.

“KSAA members are facing an acute shortage of empty containers in China, the Far East, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Americas, the Mediterranean region and the Indian subcontinent, and this is choking the supply chain and global trade,” he said. In November last year, KPA and KRA signed a joint communique to speed up the processing of cargo at the port following congestion witnessed in the last quarter of the year.

KPA Managing Director Captain William Ruto and KRA’s Commissioner of Customs Dr Lilian Nyawanda said the port will operate for 24 hours, and long-stay cargo will be auctioned to reduce congestion.

It followed a meeting chaired by the executive office of the president’s council of economic advisors, led by former National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and attended by several port stakeholders, that discussed measures to make the port efficient.

“To facilitate 24/7 operations at the port, all cargo interveners shall harmonise their working hours and management of shifts to ensure seamless processing of cargo consignments,” said the two agencies. They said all long-stay containerised cargo at the port will be transferred to the customs-licensed peripheral facilities.

It stated that containerised cargo destined for Mombasa will be transferred to CFSs for final clearance, containerised cargo destined for Nairobi and other upcountry destinations will be railed to the ICD Nairobi, while containerised cargo destined for Uganda will be transferred to the ICD Naivasha for clearance.

In a bid to encourage the evacuation of containerised cargo, KPA and KRA agreed to waive 100 per cent of accrued storage and warehouse rent for long-stay cargo on lodgement of a waiver application by the affected customers for a period of 30 days.

Stakeholders, however, have yet to review the progress of the directive, with reports of continued congestion and ships waiting to dock at the port.

He suggested that all shipping lines have an extra day at berth to evacuate empty containers, adding that they should also bring sweepers to ship out the cargo boxes.

“The biggest challenges we are also encountering are the return of empties to depots, which are full trucks that also stand in queue for four to five days, and then shipping companies are charged container demurrage,” he said.