This archive report was first published on 7 October 2021.
Bamburi Cement's Mbaraki Wharf Lease in Jeopardy ¶
Published on October 7, 2021, Bamburi Cement's operations at Mbaraki Wharf are under threat as the company faces a turf war with Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) over its storage facility lease renewal.
The storage facility, used for exporting cement and importing clinker, has its lease set for renewal. However, powerful cartels working in cohorts with compromised KPA board members are working to frustrate and stop the renewal of the lease.
The port's conventional facility at Mbaraki Wharf handles bulk cargo, including cement, fluorspar, soda ash, grain, and clinker. Bamburi Cement operates its dedicated facility at Mbaraki Wharf for loading bulk cement for export and clinker, which has been operational since the 1970s.
Industry players fear that the country's oldest cement manufacturing company and regional second-largest is fighting for its survival. The firm's storage lease agreement for the Mbaraki wharf is nearing an end, and there are credible fears that powerful cartels are out to stop the renewal.
While Bamburi Cement officials have yet to come out publicly to air their frustrations, those in the know are telling Kenya Insights of the silent battle. The port's board is allegedly infiltrated, and a section of board members is compromised and in the pockets of Mombasa tycoons who have vast interests in the freight business.
Should such efforts materialize and Bamburi Cement fail to cut a deal and have their lease on the storage facility renewed, it would be a quick death for the cement maker and a kicker to competitors. It would in effect have hundreds left unemployed and the already dented Mombasa economy even more damaged.
Meanwhile, the firm has kick-started the building of a Sh536 million clinker plant at the Kenyan coast, which it expects to enable it move away from reliance on costly imported clinker. Clinker is the key raw material for the manufacture of cement.
However, the clinker wars in Kenya have seen one 'Guru' Narendra Raval of National Cement branded as 'conman' by industry players following his spirited efforts to have the import tax raised from the current 10% to 25% in a bid to discourage importation for the local market.
