This archive report was first published on 26 October 2019.
Published on October 26, 2019, protests against the government's decision to have all containers ferried to Nairobi's Inland Container Depot after being off-loaded from the ships through the Standard Gauge Railway have been ongoing in Mombasa.
However, cracks have emerged among traders and activists organizing weekly street demonstrations, with a section of transporters disowning the protests spearheaded by rights groups Haki Africa, Muslims for Human Rights, and Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir.
Speaking in Mombasa, truckers led by Paul Mwangi of Agen Palm Logistics said they have started receiving business from the Port of Mombasa and were hauling containers to upcountry destinations after the government rescinded its earlier decision to compel importers to use SGR.
“We are getting business. We should never be lumped up with civil society activists in the name of agitating for our rights,’’ Mr Mwangi said.
A section of Coast politicians, scholars, and activists want the flow of cargo controlled by market forces and argue that this decree on SGR haulage has shrunk Mombasa's economy by 12 per cent.
Mvita MP Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir said, “The monopoly order had no legal basis. “The government must admit it was an illegality and it was now being rectified instead of just saying the order has been suspended.”
