Gitonga Marete
29 October 2009
Nairobi — Parliament will, after all, have the final say on whether Mombasa port will be privatised or not, a parliamentary committee said on Thursday.
This is contrary to remarks attributed to Mr Solomon Kitungu the Privatisation Commission of Kenya chairman who on Monday said the commission would go ahead with the privatisation despite opposition from other stakeholders, including the giant dock workers' union.
After being briefed on the progress of privatising the port, committee chairman Mr Chris Okemo said that it was only after parliament was satisfied about the proposal that the process would proceed.
"We understand that once the port is privatised the assets will remain the property of the government while operations will be carried out privately. But once proposals are complete they will have to go through the Finance committee for perusal and parliament for approval," he said.
Mr Okemo was speaking at the port where members of his committee were being briefed by Kenya Ports Authority senior management including managing director Mr James Mulewa on the process of privatising the port.
The comments seemed to contradict port stakeholders' perception that it is the Privatisation Commission of Kenya which will decide whether the port is sold to private investors.
On Monday, executive director Mr Solomon Kitungu said the commission would go on with its mandate despite strong opposition from the Dock Workers Union and some local leaders.
"We are still at an infant stage of this process and there is an opportunity to share more information and develop consensus," Mr Kitungu told stakeholders, including dock workers at the Bandari college.
Mr Kitungu's comments did not go down well with the DWU who fear they will lose more than 4,000 jobs when the port is privitised, and who vowed to go on strike if the process is not halted.
Berths 11-14 will be privatised and operated by private investors according to a cabinet approval of December last year.
KPA managing director Mr James Mulewa said a transaction advisor who would advise the privitisation commission on the best mode of running the port after the four berths were privatised was being sought.
During the meeting, committee members engaged KPA managers in a heated debate over plans to privatise the port, and demanded to know why the process was necessary.
Concerning licensing of the second grain bulk handling facility at the port, Mr Okemo said the committee had concurred with berth limitation and would not dedicate another berth for handling grain only.
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