Kenya to open five new quick clearance customs posts to facilitate trade

KENYA plans to issue tenders for the construction of five one-stop border posts in a bid to raise the east African nation`s competitiveness for transit cargo moving to and from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.crack

The proposed locations for the centres, which are mainly on the border with Uganda, comprise Lunga Lunga, Malaba, Busia, Taveta and Isebania, according to the Kenya National Highway Authority (KNHA), which is in charge of the project.


The centres will enable customs officers and border controllers from each country to be housed in a single office and handle all documentation concurrently, resulting in cost and time-savings, reports London`s Containerisation International. Today, inspection and document clearing takes place in separate offices often creating long truck queues, particularly during peak seasons.


The report said the existing arrangements have been accused of causing corruption as impatient truckers and beneficial cargo owners bribe and pay officials to expedite cargo clearance.


The Kenyan authorities said that a pilot scheme at Malaba has demonstrated that when inspections were carried out separately it could take a container truck two days to secure passage. This has since been slashed to two to three hours.


The KNHA tender documents are expected to be released on October 21 and that successful bidders will then have 15 months to complete the building work.crackcrack