Shipping containers at Mombasa Port. (Photo: Courtesy).

The Kenyan government has ordered an end to the monopolized clearance and handling of all cargo destined for South Sudan from the Mombasa port.

Former Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho’s family firm, Auto-port Freight Terminals Limited had for more than a year solely handled goods headed to South Sudan.

However, on Wednesday, President Ruto’s administration nominated three companies to handle the more than 1.1 million tons of cargo annually destined for South Sudan from Mombasa Port.

It has picked Compact Consolbase, Mombasa Container Terminal, and Mitchell Cotts to handle cargo from and to the Port of Mombasa.

Prior to the nomination, Kenya’s Transport Principal Secretary Mohamed Daghar last week said cargo destined for South Sudan could be handled by any Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) custom bonded warehouse.

Reacting to the move, Dennis Maende Odero a Freight consultant at Mombasa Port who had also advocated for an end to the monopoly, describes the decision as positive.

He says this will ensure nobody takes advantage and mistreat South Sudanese business community.

“It’s positive. In fact, our letter impacted positively in favor of South Sudanese cargo. Today, the government has come in after leaving the supervision to KPA (Kenya Port Authority),” Odero told Eye Radio on Wednesday, from Mombasa.

“I would like to tell the business community and the government of South Sudan to be aware and to look for people of goods will who offer free consultancy.”

“We can advise, we can do recommendations, we can assist so that nobody takes advantage of transit cargo, nobody take advantage of your business community and mistreat them and take illegal charges which are not necessary.”

In May 2023, President Kiir asked his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto to end the monopoly of clearance for cargo destined for South Sudan from the Mombasa port through the rail line.

Mombasa has been the main route for all consignments destined for the landlocked country and South Sudan, but Juba in recent months propose using the Port of Djibouti as an alternative.

The previous government had moved cargo clearance to the ICD in Naivasha and Nairobi as a way of boosting revenue to repay the $5.1 billion Chinese loan used in putting up the SGR between Nairobi and Naivasha.