The Kenya Revenue Authority is educating players ahead of full rollout of the new Integrated Customs Management System in June, which will replace Simba.
Deputy commissioner for customs and border control Julius Musyoki said the infrastructure will be piloted by the end of March.
“The ICMS is at the advanced stages of development. It will be piloted for three months, before the full rollout in June,” Musyoki said in Mombasa.
The KRA is asking players in the shipping industry to familiarise themselves with the new system before it is fully operationalised.
“ICMS is a top of the range system, which will be able to integrate with other standalone systems like the Regional Cargo Tracking System. ICMS will be controlled centrally from the KRA headquarters at the Times Tower, Nairobi,” Musyoki said.
One of the biggest challenges of the Simba system was perennial breakdown causing inefficiency in cargo clearance at the port of Mombasa.
They have been complaints from the neighbouring countries of Uganda and Rwanda in regard to the delay in the delivery of the cargo coming through Kenya.
Musyoki said through the new ICMS, all the countries that have been using the port of Mombasa will be able to track the movement of the cargo.
“The issue of diversion of transit cargo into local market or disappearance of containers will be a thing of the past,” said the KRA official.
