THE KENYA PORT AUTHORITY OVERSEES THE PORTS THAT NOT ONLY CONNECT KENYA BUT OPEN THE GATEWAY TO ALL OF EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA.
GROWING BUSINESS, ENRICHING LIVES
PROJECT MANAGED BY: DECLAN JONES
The maritime and shipping industry plays a critical role in the economy of Kenya and the region at large. It powers the growth of economies, ensuring the bulk movement of cargo across the sea. The Kenya Ports Authority exists to maintain and uphold the role of those ports. This wholly state-owned Corporation was brought about through an Act of Parliament in January 1978.
Its mandate includes the management and operation of all scheduled seaports and inland waterways across Kenya’s coastline, including Mombasa, Lamu, Kisumu, Malindi, Kilifi, Mtwapa, Kiunga, Shimoni, Funzi and Vanga.
On top of that, KPA also manages the Inland Container Depots in Nairobi, Eldoret and Naivasha.
The Authority operates at the fulcrum of ocean-going logistics for the nation. Since it was established, it has invested massive amounts of resourcing in building the capacities of its port facilities so they can meet market demand, remaining
competitive in an increasingly dynamic shipping and maritime industry.
A PORT-FOLIO
The Kenya Ports Authority’s mandate includes a number of extensive and critical facilities along the nation’s coastline. These include the Port of Mombasa, the city known as “the city of merchants” since the age of Vasco Da Gama, when the city’s old port facilitated trade between the East Coast of Africa and the Far East.
At the dawn of the 20th century, when the Kenya-Uganda Railway was established, a new port was built west of Mombasa
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Island. This port rapidly became a busy trading post for the region. Its strategic location, midway between South Africa and the Gulf of Aden, means Mombasa Port has seen tremendous volumes of traffic over the years. The facility serves as a logistics gateway to East and Central Africa.
Then there is the Port of Lamu, in Manda Bay Lamu. This port is the new frontier of Kenya’s logistics, constructed to the highest modern standards, complete with superior infrastructure.
The facility has been built to stand alongside the most contemporary and bestperforming ports in the world. Lamu is the benchmark of what is possible with modern ports. Its construction was carried out following a comprehensive survey to establish that the site was the most suitable location for the facility. With its natural depth of 18 metres along the main channel, rising to 60 metres at the bay, the port is already set to become Kenya’s second commercial port and a major component of the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor project.
Meanwhile, on the shores of Lake Victoria, is the Port of Kisumu, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world. Established in 1901, Kisumu is shared by three countriesKenya, Uganda and Tanzania, making it a critical link in an integrated East African rail and water transportation network.
As well as serving Kenya’s logistics and supply chains, the Kenya Port Authority also stewards the nation’s food sources with its oversight of the Port of Shimoni, the country’s premier fishing port. Situated off the Wasini Island on the South Coast of Kenya,
it is an expression of Kenya’s determination to tap into the blue economy and unlock the massive opportunities that remain in that industry.
The Kenya Port Authority maintains these flagship facilities alongside its 2018-2050 Masterplan, a strategy intended to facilitate the development of small ports within Kenya’s longterm development framework as outlined under its Vision 2030.
Away from the coast, Kenya Ports Authority works to close the gap between port services and their customers with its network of inland container depots, which can increase cargo offtake from the ports to
the hinterlands. It has depots at Nairobi, Naivasha and Eldoret.
CONNECTIVE GLOBAL TRADE
With this wealth of facilities, KPA is equipped to fulfil a crucial mission for the country. That mission is to provide efficient and competitive port services that can facilitate global trade, enabling a vision of world-class ports of choice. As it follows its mandate to maintain, operate, improve and regulate all sea and inland waterway ports in Kenya, the Ports Authority’s first priority is its customers. The key to all of its operations is service excellence, and the organisation endeavours to continuously
exceed customer expectations.
It does this while upholding unimpeachable standards of fairness, honesty, professionalism and transparency in all of its undertakings, embracing a team spirit in everything it does. Through continuous innovation and the creation of value for its customers, Kenya Ports Authority cares for its staff, communities and the environment.
KPA offers marine operations including the pilotage, mooring, and maintenance of aids to navigation, tug services, bunkering, conservancy, pollution control and firefighting. Its cargo handling services include stevedoring, shore handling, stuffing, stripping, and storage, alongside a host of support services for vessels, marine crafts and crew calling at Kenya’s ports and terminals.
A NEW ERA OF LEADERSHIP
Last year the Kenya Port Authority entered a new era, when the port assigned a new Managing Director, Captain William Ruto. Ruto assumed the appointment while promising to transform the Port of Mombasa and other port facilities into economic hubs for the region.
“One of the most important things to note is that this Port is not only for Kenya but it’s the gateway to East and Central Africa. We are therefore not only going to look at what is going on within our country, but we must also tap on what is happening within emerging transit markets and also focus on growing more business volumes for this institution,” he said during the ceremony when he took office.
In pursuing that transformation, Ruto also made it clear that KPA’s workforce would be his most valuable asset, addressing them as a major stakeholder in
KPA as he laid out his agenda of focusing on efficiency at port facilities with their invaluable contribution.
And he will need them, as KPA has an enormous task ahead of it. Ruto will lead Kenya Ports Authority in driving the government’s agenda on a wide range of ongoing mega projects that will spur the country’s economy, such as the Special Economic Zone Dongo Kundu project.
Ruto told workers at the KPA that “they must take good care of the cow by feeding it”, telling them that improved performance would attract higher volumes of business and generate revenue, in turn growing salaries and bonuses.
“From now we want to plan how to start breaking records because we also must show our bosses in Nairobi that we know our work and that we are capable of attaining the desired results,” Ruto said.
