This archive report was first published on 20 May 2020.
Kenya Ports Authority's (KPA) plans to privatize the port of Mombasa have been met with resistance from the Dockworkers Union. In a rare show of unity, officials of the union have demanded that KPA cancels a tender awarded to a firm associated with Mombasa legislator Abdulswamad Nassir.
According to the union's general secretary, Simon Sang, the tender is a conflict of interest, given Nassir's role as a lawmaker who chaired a national assembly watchdog committee. The firm, which has also been awarded a tender to conduct verification of goods and cargo at the inland container depot in Nairobi, has a contract to hire labour at the port of Mombasa, the Nairobi ICD, and at the Lamu port.
The deal was brokered by the influential Joho family, which does massive business at KPA. Nassir has been a vocal supporter of the Joho family's efforts to combat COVID-19 in the county.
Weekly Citizen has established that the operations at one of the berths within the port have already been privatised, with the tender given to tycoon Mohammed Jaffer. Jaffer has centralised the loading and offloading of imported fertiliser at berth numbers 4 and 7.
The Dockworkers Union has warned the government that they will not agree to 75 per cent of the port operations being in the hands of cartels. KPA's board is under scrutiny over the transfer of 75 per cent of operations at the port of Mombasa to private investors. Three companies, including Portside Ltd., Grain Bulk Handlers, and Mechantile Company Ltd, have allegedly acquired the port's public resources illegally.
