A section of Traders and Clearing Agents are calling for the decentralization of container release operations to enhance efficiency and reduce the turnaround time at the Port of Mombasa and Container Freight Stations (CFS).
The traders, led by Oldtown Member of County Assembly (MCA) Abdulrahman Hussein, vented out their frustrations on the prolonged release process.
They expressed concern that since the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) introduced the Centralised Release Operations (CRO), they have suffered significant losses. Under the CRO system, Customs and Border Control Release Officers are stationed in a centralised location and are randomly assigned customs declarations to process.
MCA Hussein says that despite that, the first executive order signed by the Head of State when he took over the reins of power in 2022 was to return the Port operations to Mombasa, some elements are hell bent to claw back on the gains made.
However, he noted that two years after the move by the Head of State, issues have arisen to the chagrin of the traders. “Initially, to clear a container, it used to take one or two days, but now it takes up to five or seven days. It has resulted in demurrages, loss of business and additional storage charges.”
He further stated that the situation has been worsened by the existence of Centralised Release Officers who are stationed in Nairobi.
“The containers are cleared here in Mombasa, but a person in Nairobi must give the go-ahead for a container to be released. The person sitting in Nairobi has not seen the container, yet he must provide the go-ahead; that issue has angered us,” decried the MCA.
They are now demanding that KRA officers stationed at the port and CFSs be granted full authority to release containers, arguing that this would significantly boost operational efficiency.
They have threatened to go to court if the Ministry of Transport and KRA do not heed their calls to streamline the release of containers.
“We are tired of the new directive from KRA, which is contrary to the law. In the past, we had Release Officers in each unit of the CFS, but now it has changed; we only have a Release Officer here and in Nairobi,” Abu Muhsin, a Trader, lamented.
Harriet Mugenda, a Human Rights Activist, said the move to Centralised Release Operations is hurting the economy of the Coast region.
