This archive report was first published on 15 September 2019.
Kenya has taken a significant step to curb smuggling of goods along the Kenya-Ethiopia border by closing two feeder roads in Moyale. The move follows concerns by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) that most exporters and importers from both countries do not pay taxes after evading the one-stop border posts.
According to sources at KRA in Moyale, the authority loses an average of Sh30 million in revenue daily due to the smuggling activities. To address this issue, the government has closed the Sesse feeder road, located metres away from the customs and police offices, and Biashara street, about a kilometre away.
Senior KRA officials recently met with the sub-county security committee team, traders, and local elected leaders to sensitise them on the need to use the one-stop border post and pay the requisite taxes. However, some traders have found ways to beat security by hiring labourers to ferry goods on foot at night through Heilu across the border, where they are later loaded onto trucks for export to Ethiopia.
Traders are using illegal routes in Sololo and Uran in Moyale and Forolle and Dukana in North Horr. Marsabit County Assembly deputy Speaker Sora Huka and MCA John Dawe Killo (Heille-Manyatta ward) have expressed concerns that the closure of feeder roads has affected small-scale traders.
‘We have closed the roads at Sesse and Biashara street and security teams are working closely with KRA and immigration officials to patrol the illegal entry points,’ said Moyale Deputy County Commissioner Patrick Mumali. The administrator warned traders found using illegal routes of legal action.
Between 30 and 50 trucks export goods to Ethiopia daily, but few pass through the official exit point. The one-stop border post, which was completed at a cost of Sh500 million, was put up to ease trade between the two countries. Kenyan traders export second-hand clothes, jerrycans, mattresses, blankets, soap, cooking oil, and juices among others, while imports include cement, beans, and cereals like maize, rice, wheat, fuel, and petroleum products.
