The Kenya Shippers Council (KSC) and The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) wish to register the frustration of their members following perennial congestion at the Port of Mombasa over the past four months which has in the last 10 days reached critical levels, choking business in Kenya and the region.

 
Consequently, ships are reported to be taking long as long as 6.1 days to berth and offload containers.  Ten containers are reported to still be waiting to berth.

The delay has resulted in “artificial” shortages, causing prices of various products in the market to

Kenya Shippers Council is opposed to the new tarrif and clearance requirements proposed by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) scheduled to take effect on  1st February 2012, as they will have grave financial  implications for cargo owners.  KPA proposes to increase the storage charges on containers  cleared through the port by US$ 5 for 20Ft containers and US$ 10 for  40Ft containers. The Authority is also seeking to reduce the free storage period from five to four days inspite of the numerous delays caused by other governments agencies involved in the clearance process.

The Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) has developed a concept note to seek funding from the Canadian Agency for International Agency (CIDA) for single window initiatives within the member states. A meeting convened at the COMESA headquarters in Zambia on 12th August 2011 discussed the recommendations to the final proposal that will be presented to CIDA. The World Bank for  has also expressed interest in funding the initiatives. 

COMESA has identified seven member states that they would like to initiate the implementation of the single window. They include Tanzania, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Kenya,