On 16th and 17th of March 2022 KEPSA participated in the Mombasa Port &Northern Corridor Community Charter (MPNCCC) Monitoring and Evaluation Sub-Committee retreat at Maanzoni Lodge in Machakos. The retreat was part of KEPSA’s ongoing Public-Private (PPD) work funded by the TradeMark East Africa.

The two-day retreat, jointly organized by KEPSA, Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) and Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA), aimed at undertaking a joint review and harmonization of MPNCCC implementation progress report. The outcome of the meeting would then form a joint progress report that would inform the agenda of the upcoming CEO’s mid-year review meeting on MPNCCC implementation status.

The Chair of MPNCCC Steering Committee Mr. Gideon Chikamai started off by welcoming the members to the meeting and recognizing the efforts made towards following up on the performance of the Charter. He insisted on the deliberations to stick to the spirit of the Charter, which is having in place a self-monitoring mechanism geared towards efficiency, effectiveness and reliability in service provision. He also pointed out the importance of documenting the Charter achievements, while also taking cognizance of the existing business environment and developing strategies/frameworks to incorporate the changes.

Present at the retreat were technical/focal persons of the Charter, including representatives from Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Transporters Association and Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA), who in turn were to present their respective institution’s performance report, offer clarity on areas of concern and contribute to the generation of the joint final report. KEPSA was represented by the PPD Specialist Mr. Patrick Maingi. The meeting was also attended by MPNCCC Chairman and SCEA CEO Mr. Gilbert Langat.

During the meeting, Mr. Maingi cited the critical port performance efficiency concerns, which have a bearing on service availability, quality and reliability. He raised the need to interrogate what was signed by the signatories vis a vie what has been achieved so far. He also made reference to the numerous challenges that have been experienced at the port in the past few weeks and the resolutions put in place that does not last hence affecting negatively the business environment.

From the deliberations, it emerged that the negative performance of the transit market has led to the shift of business to the Central Corridor, which is likely to have been caused by the high costs, characterized by cargo clearance processes on the Northern corridor that has been worsened by persistent delays. The meeting also outlined 30 action points geared towards addressing the cost of doing business and reduction of cargo clearance time among other emerging issues.