State banks on a marine academy to boost Kisumu port operations

Kenya is banking on the newly built Sh450 million marine school in Kisumu to boost capacity at the revived port and operations in Lake Victoria.

The institution is also expected to complement the Bandari Maritime Academy in Mombasa in enhancing maritime skills in the country and the region.

This comes at a time when the government pushes for increased tapping of the maritime resources under its blue economy agenda. 

The Railways Training Institute ( Marine Academy) is currently training coxswains, maritime transport and logistics experts.

The government has revived the old maritime school which in existence between 1964-1992. 

Speaking yesterday during a tour of the facility, government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna said: "To develop and exploit the maritime sector, we need to have a competent human resource. This facility will provide the right skills."

The facility currently offers International Maritime Organisation and Kenya Maritime Authority approved courses.  Academy principal Stephen Buluma said nautical science and marine engineering courses will bee soon offer.

The school has an eight-metre deep swimming pool to train seafarers, standard hostels for 160 students, a four-star hotel with a 120-bed capacity and conference facilities.

The government has in the past two years invested heavily in reviving port, rail and maritime activities in the lake region, with a keen focus on increasing trade with neighbouring countries through Lake Victoria.

This includes the renovated Sh3 billion Kisumu port and the revival of the old meter-gauge railway.

Kenya is keen to remain competitive and maintain its export and transit business mainly to Uganda, the biggest regional user of the Port of Mombasa (on transit), accounting for 83.2 per cent of all goods to the hinterland.

South Sudan takes up 9.9 per cent while DR Congo, Tanzania and Rwanda account for 7.2 per cent, 3.2 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively.

Kisumu Port links Kenya to small ports of Musoma, and Bukoba in Tanzania and Entebbe and Port Bell in Uganda.

Meanwhile, the revival of the Old Metre Gauge railway and connection to the SGR is expected to support the growth of agricultural exports such as tea and coffee, domestic movement of fresh milk, and other produce.

Kenya Railways which is running Kisumu Port with main operations on its MV Uhuru has been moving oil products using the port, with LPG becoming a big business in recent months. 

The revived railway line is expected to serve factories in Rift Valley and western Kenya and the fish industry in Kisumu, with hopes of revival and growth of installations in the region where the likes of Kisumu Cotton Mills (Kicomi) were key in the 1990s.

Kenya Breweries’ Kisumu plant, revived Rivatex East Africa and new KCC are among those expected to move volumes on a rail, according to Kenya Railways.