Gitonga Marete and Mwakera Mwajefa
27 October 2009
Nairobi — The government has been asked to sensitize all Mombasa port stakeholders in the privatisation process, which has sparked mixed reactions among coast leaders and port workers.
The process, spearheaded by the Privatisation Commission of Kenya has been rejected by politicians, the Dock Workers Union and the civil society.
Immediate former Dockworkers' Union general secretary Kennedy Kiliku on Tuesday expressed concern over the process and criticised the commission's intent to go on with the process despite the opposition.
"The government must listen to the voices of the people who will be affected if the port goes to private hands. The commission should not make it a do or die exercise that has to be done despite the dissenting voices," he said.
The government intends to transform berths 11 to 14 - mostly used for off loading of conventional cargo such as grains and fertilizer - into a container terminal which will 100 per cent be ran by the private sector.
But union secretary general Simon Sang said privatisation of the port would not improve efficiency as envisaged, and claimed that the same process carried out at the port of Dar-es-salaam had resulted to its poor performance.
"The performance of container operation in Mombasa port is higher than in Dar-es-Salaam and yet operations at the later port are privatised. In fact Tanzania is regretting having privatised the port," he said.
"Our port has a better competitive ability over its biggest competitor in the region and privatisation of the four berths will not enhance its ability," he added.
During a meeting hosted by the privatisation commission to sensitize union members about the process at the Bandari College on Monday, Coast PC Earnest Munyi suggested that more stakeholders be involved in the process going by the opposition it had faced.
"For stakeholders and Kenyans to appreciate the process, the commission should give them examples of privatization success stories and those that have failed so that they know how it will affect their lives," he said and asked the commission to call for another stakeholders' meeting.
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