Why KPA is in the spot over plan to outsource port services

The debate over outsourcing stevedoring services at the Mombasa Port is as familiar as the tides that lap its berths. 

"Stevedoring" refers to the process of loading, unloading and stowing cargo on ships at the port, performed by specialised workers known as "stevedores" or "longshoremen."

It includes operating cranes, securing goods for transport and managing container, bulk or vehicle freight.

Outsourcing resurfaces whenever efficiency dips, ship turnaround times lengthen, or cargo dwell time becomes a national preoccupation. 

Outsourcing advocates argue that private operators bring speed, capital, and managerial discipline. 

But Kenya has walked this path before—through both fragmentation and consolidation—and history offers a more strategic lesson: sustainable efficiency at Mombasa is best secured through a strong, unified national cargo handling company, not through piecemeal outsourcing.

Mr Andrew Mwangura, a Mombasa-based independent maritime consultant and former Secretary General of the Seafarers Union of Kenya (SUK), delves into the matter that has taken centre stage recently after months of over-congestion at the largest seaport in the eastern rim of the Indian Ocean.

"Before independence, cargo handling at Mombasa and other regional ports was fragmented among private and semi-private firms operating under the oversight of the East African Railways and Harbours Administration," he states. 

He adds that companies such as African Wharfage Company Ltd, East African Lighterage Company, Associated African Docks Enterprises Ltd, and Landing and Shipping Company of East Africa Ltd (LASCO) operated across Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Tanga, and Mtwara. 

Each of these companies, Mwangura outlines, held contracts with specific shipping lines. While this arrangement reflected the commercial realities of the colonial era, it also created duplication, uneven standards, and a patchwork of labour regimes that undermined cohesive port management.

"Recognising these inefficiencies, the region moved decisively toward consolidation. In 1963, the private firms were amalgamated into LASCO, paving the way for the formation of East African Cargo Handling Services (EACHS). EACHS became the sole cargo-handling entity across major East African ports," he says.

The logic was simple and forward-looking: unify operations, standardise procedures, protect labour rights, and ensure strategic alignment with national development priorities.

This model endured until the collapse of the East African Community in 1977, after which national authorities—including the Kenya Ports Authority—assumed direct control.

That history matters profoundly. It demonstrates that consolidation—when properly managed—delivers coherence, economies of scale, and robust national oversight.

Outsourcing, by contrast, risks returning the port to a fragmented structure reminiscent of the pre-1963 era, where multiple operators prioritised individual contracts over systemic efficiency and the broader public interest.

Speaking separately, Alex Kasuku, a port user with diverse interests in import and export, exonerated the current management of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) from any blame over congestion and instead pointed an accusing finger at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) over what he termed as lacklustre planning procedures for having scanning operations inside the Port.

"Scanning is a tedious and time-consuming exercise that ought to be done in a controlled setting outside the port, say, like at gazetted Container Freight Stations (CFS), to ensure there is space for critical port operations to flow seamlessly," Kasuku says.

Mwangura points out that the Port of Mombasa is not merely a commercial gateway; it is a strategic national asset serving Kenya and a vast hinterland that includes Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and parts of northern Tanzania.

He states that decisions about stevedoring cannot be reduced to short-term performance metrics.

"They must encompass sovereignty, employment stability, industrial harmony, and long-term regional competitiveness. Outsourcing stevedoring services may promise immediate operational gains, but it often comes at a high cost. Private operators, driven by profit margins, may resort to casualisation of labour, reduced investment in workforce development, and industrial tensions," he said. 

Mwangura explains that in a port environment where safety, skill, and institutional memory are paramount, the erosion of stable, experienced teams can undermine performance rather than enhance it. 

The social costs of industrial disputes and precarious employment ultimately reverberate through the entire logistics chain, Mwangura notes.

"Instead of outsourcing, Kenya should consider reviving a restructured national cargo handling company—modelled on the former Kenya Cargo Handling Services framework that operated effectively between the 1920s and 1980s," he suggests. 

Such an entity, operating as a commercially driven but nationally anchored corporation, could combine operational autonomy with public accountability. 

It would capture the agility of the private sector while safeguarding the strategic interests that only a public mandate can ensure. 

He said that a modern revival would not blindly replicate the past. 

"It would integrate contemporary performance benchmarks, digital cargo management systems, mechanised handling equipment, and transparent governance standards. It would adopt strict key performance indicators for vessel turnaround time, crane productivity, labour efficiency, and safety compliance," the former SUK boss says. 

But crucially, it would remain a unified operator under national oversight, ensuring consistency across terminals and alignment with Kenya's broader maritime strategy.

Moreover, strengthening an indigenous cargo handling company reinforces Kenya's maritime ecosystem.

It supports training institutions, promotes local expertise, and ensures that value generated at the port circulates within the national economy. 

Outsourcing to foreign-linked firms risks exporting profits while domestic capacity stagnates—a particularly bitter trade-off for a country aspiring to become a regional logistics hub.

"Efficiency at Mombasa does not require fragmentation. It requires disciplined management, sustained investment in equipment, digitisation of processes, and a motivated workforce. These reforms are achievable within a revitalised public or public-majority structure," Mwangura says.

He adds that the 1963 amalgamation demonstrates that consolidation was historically chosen precisely to overcome inefficiency and duplication—lessons as relevant today as they were six decades ago.

The question before policymakers is therefore not whether change is needed. It is what kind of change will best serve Kenya's long-term interests.