This archive report was first published on 12 November 2019.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga are set to officially open the refurbished Kisumu Port on a visit to the Lakeside City of Kisumu. The port, which has been revamped at a cost of 3 billion shillings, is expected to start handling cargo in the coming days.
According to a source from the Kenya Ports Authority, the port will seek to reignite the triangular trade between Kisumu, Jinja in Uganda, and Tanzania's Mwanza Port.
As part of the preparations, National Youth Service (NYS) personnel, who were withdrawn from the port last month, have returned for a clean-up. This signals that the new Sh3 billion 'handshake' project could now be ready for the long-awaited official launch.
Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa hinted that the port could be officially opened early next month, stating, 'The port is ready and we are coming down here with important guests to open it.'
However, the Sh1.9 billion Kisumu oil jetty, which was completed in March last year, will have to wait for the neighboring Uganda to complete its side of the docking facilities. Uganda is building a four-million-tonne badge on its part of Lake Victoria shore to evacuate oil from the Kisumu jetty.
The oil will then be exported to other landlocked countries including Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
