Senators call for Busia-Malaba border infrastructure review

The Senate has directed the National Treasury; Ministry of Trade, Ministry of East African Community in collaboration with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), to develop and present a comprehensive action plan within 90 days to address the infrastructure and operational bottlenecksat at Busia and Malaba border posts.

Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot in a motion tabled before the Senate plenary sitting in Busia Town asked KeNHA and  KRA, to fast-track the expansion of access roads, increase the number of functional cargo scanners, and establish dedicated clearance lanes for perishable goods and transit cargo to decongest the border points.

Cheruiyot told the house that Busia and Malaba border posts are critical gateways for regional trade, handling a significant portion of Kenya's commerce with Uganda and other East African Community partner states therefore the efficient operation of border posts is critical for national revenue collection, trade facilitation and the economic well-being of the public and more so residents of Busia.

“Various challenges continue to impede operations at these borders,  particularly at Malaba border, such as severe congestion, inadequate human resource, inadequate infrastructure including narrow roads and insufficient cargo scanners, and delays in customs processing due to duplication of roles and multiple agency checks, thus increasing the cost of doing business, leading to spoiling of perishable goods, and undermining regional economic integration efforts,” said Cheruiyot.

The Senate Majority Leader raised concerns about several stalled projects namely the underutilized Mundika and Malaba trailer parks, 200-acre undeveloped parcel of public land at Ngelechom amongst others thus exacerbating congestion and representing a significant waste of public resources.

Cheruiyot told the house that these persistent challenges undermine the goals of the East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol by impeding the smooth flow of goods, creating an unleveled playing field for Kenyan businesses and hindering regional economic integration, thereby resulting in loss of potential revenue, business opportunities, and economic vitality for Kenya.

He said the Senate has resolved that the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of East African Community should intensify bilateral and EAC-level engagements with the counterpart Ministries in Uganda to ensure full harmonization and realization of the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) concept.

Cheruiyot said the house The Ministry of Roads and Transport and the Kenya National Highways Authority should prioritize and fast-track the completion of the supporting road and rail infrastructure, such as the dueling of the highway from Malaba to the interior, to ensure that gains at the border are not lost to domestic logistical bottlenecks,” said Cheruiyot.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei said that the Busia border is very critical and that they were surprised that there was more than 110 acres that was to be given to Kenya Revenue Authority which has not be done asking the matter to be fast racked and that there was need for resting and parking areas to be constructed.

Cherargei said that there were some 22 agencies that someone needs to clear with before moving to the other side of the border wondering why it was called a one border post yet this was not the case arguing that this was leading to the slowing down of movement of people and goods.

“It was embarrassing for someone to be asked to pay to use toilet facilities on the Kenya side while that is not the same on the Uganda side and that was need for the establishment of parking and resting side for those who are crossing the border as they wait to be cleared,” said Cherargei.

Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah said the President was the top diplomat of the country and needs to engage with his counterpart in Uganda to ensure that tariff barriers affecting business are addressed with inefficiencies in this corridor leading to movement of business from Mombasa to Dar es Salaam port.

Omtatah said that there was need to erect a modern trailer city at Ngelechom 200-acre parcel which is public owned to reduce the huge backlog experienced at the Malaba and Busia border points saying that most of the challenges are self-inflicted and need to be solved as soon as possible.

Nyeri Senator Wahome Wamatinga said the movement of goods between the Kenya and Uganda should be aligned to the latest technology which will ensure that there is no backlog of trucks waiting to be cleared which was slowing down business among the two neighbouring countries.

“It is high time that we used technology to expedite the clearance of those moving across the border and the goods so as to reduce the long queues we see at the border area which is slowing business activities,” said Wamatinga.

Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga said that the borders were created by colonialists with most of those living on the Kenya and Uganda side being one people and that the leadership of the two countries should do something to ensure that there is full integration of the people.

“There is need of free movement of people, free movement of goods and free movement of services through the removal of tariff barriers that affect the engagement between citizens of our two countries which should not be the case,” said Oburu.

Nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda said that the revenue collected in Busia border last year was Sh 8 billion last year saying the border needs to get development wondering why the roads were not made yet one of them requires Sh200 million to be done.

“There was need for a joint committee to address the challenges on both sides of the border since some of the key decisions have to be made in Nairobi which inconvenience stakeholders, it is high time that regional discussions are done to ensure we do not loss business,” said Mutinda.

Senate Minority Whip Ledama ole Kina said outdated infrastructure affects services in the two  ports said it was important to expedite the formation of East African political federation to in order to ensure fair trade practices among residents of the three countries are applied.

Mombasa Senator Mohammed Faki said there is a lot of time wasted at the border areas since goods were not being cleared on time and that it requires concerted efforts by all stakeholders to ensure that there is efficiency in all border points in order to ensure nobody was disadvantaged.