MV Uhuru is making a weekly voyage from Kisumu Port loaded with oil to port Bell in Uganda signifying the importance of Lake Victoria in revamping the water transport system in the region.
This was disclosed by the Head of Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Mr. Peter Masinde, when he addressed a recent virtual meeting organized by KenTrade to discuss effective utilization of e-commerce for trade facilitation in the era of COVID-19 held on 16th of this month.
The first consignment that was done in January this year contained 22 wagons loaded with 894,000 liters of diesel.
Oil is being pumped to the lake city through the pipeline operated by the Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC) and then shunted from the oil jetty to Kisumu port for onward transmission to Jinja and Entebbe.
“We are in discussions with key stakeholders that include Uganda Railway and the Ministry of Works to have the maximum use of the Kisumu port,” Masinde said, adding that the facility upgrading was over 90 percent complete.
The facility has already acquired a one reach stacker, 3 terminal tractors and yard with a 3000 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) holding capacity.
In May this year, the government breathed life in the war to regain control of East Africa’s petroleum market by funding the Kenya Pipeline jetty in Kisumu to the tune of Sh1.7 billion.
The ministry of transport in Kenya has already announced plans to have fuel products transported through the pipeline to Kisumu and thereafter transported through the lake to the East Africa bloc.
The move signals a return to maritime trade over the lake and the prospects of transforming Kisumu into a regional commercial hub. It has also been tipped to leverage Lake Victoria as a key transport corridor.
Three days ago, Kenya Railways announced that it has completed construction of a new 1.8 Km railway section from NCPB Kisumu railway siding to KPC-Kisumu Depot to facilitate movement of empty tank wagons to the depot for loading and movement back to MV Uhuru for further transportation to Port Bell.
Transport through Lake Victoria has been dormant for more than two decades. Uganda remains Kenya’s top export market for imported oil products (super petrol, diesel, kerosene and Jet A 1-aviation fuel). Seventy per cent of Kenya’s exports go to Uganda.
Kenya Railways recently announced that it will in the next two weeks start the upgrade of the old track from Nakuru to Kisumu after dropping the use of external contractors.
Philip Mainga, the Kenya Railways managing director, said that the refurbishment of the rail network, which is more than a century old, would start on August 1 and take eight months.
The project marks a policy U-turn given that the State earlier ruled out reviving the line that had fallen into disrepair.
Mr Mainga told the Business Daily that Kenya Railway engineers and National Youth Service will refurbish the line in a bid to cut the upgrade cost.
Initially, Kenya had plans of tapping the Chinese for the upgrade. The 216km line will connect to the recently refurbished Sh3 billion Kisumu port, which will enable ferrying of cargo and passengers to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo on ships via Lake.
