• Coast leaders want an economic back-up plan after depending on Mombasa port for decades.
• Experts have predicted tough times for region after government shifted cargo clearing from Mombasa to Nairobi.
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho’s camaraderie with President Uhuru Kenyatta will enable him organise a meeting between the President and Coast leaders a week’s time.
The leaders - including the six governors, MPs and MCAs - want an economic back-up plan after depending on the Mombasa port for decades as the region’s main economic giant.
Top on the leaders’ agenda is how to tap into the oil and gas potential the country has and the Dongo Kundu project, which both Uhuru and Joho say can employ more people than the Mombasa port has ever done.
Economic experts have predicted tough times for the Coast region after the government shifted cargo clearing jobs from Mombasa to the Nairobi Inland Container Depot.
On Monday, Joho said it was time the Coast started thinking seriously of diversifying its economy, reading from the same script as Uhuru.
“In economics, we believe one has to find a way to continuously diversify . We cannot stay stagnant,” Joho said.
He spoke at the Mombasa port during the flagging off ceremony of the maiden shipment of crude oil from Kenya to Malaysia by Uhuru.
The President echoed Joho’s sentiments, saying it was important for not only the Coast but also other regions to diversify their economies.
“We need more economic activities. We can’t depend on the port alone,” Uhuru said.
Joho said leaders at the Coast had realised political wars with the government do not help.
The Coast region has been an opposition zone for decades.
This is the reason, experts say, the region has not developed as much as it should despite the abundance of natural resources.
Joho is taking advantage of the handshake between Uhuru and ODM leader Raila Odinga to have the government invest more at the Coast.
“The President is so accessible. Let us just reach out to him,” he said.
Joho and Changamwe MP Omar Mwinyi said there were issues that needed discussion like loss of jobs due to the government directive that all cargo imports destined for places other than Mombasa be cleared in Nairobi.
Joho said since oil has been discovered in Turkana, Mombasa county can host a trading hub and establish a petrochemical industry and value-addition centre.
“We have the capacity to do that,” he said.
President Uhuru, who flagged off the vessel Celsius Riga that carried the crude oil before jetting off to Japan on Monday evening to discuss the development of Dongo Kundu special economic zone.
Uhuru said his trip to Japan is mainly to discuss the Dongo Kundu project which many say is long overdue.
Trade CS Peter Munya three weeks ago gazetted Dongo Kundu, Naivasha, Konza City and Kisumu as special economic zones.
Dongo Kundu sits on 3,000 acres of land and creating a special economic zone will attract investors, both local and international, who will enjoy tax incentives to set up industries.
Uhuru is expected to return to Mombasa after the Japan trip.
“When you come back for the ASK Show, spare us some two hours we explain to you how we want to diversify our economy, why it is urgent for Mombasa to realise our free trade zone and why it is important to expedite the process of setting up Dongo Kundu,” Joho said.
He said Donhgo Kundu will create 10 times more jobs than the Mombasa port.
Currently, the port has employed slightly more than 7,000 people.
Munya said Dongo Kundu has taken too long to develop because of disagreements between the government and development partners.
“That matter has already been resolved and it has been agreed that JICA (Japan International Corporation Agency) will be the lead development partner in the development of Dongo Kundu,” he said.
Uhuru said: “When we complete Dongo Kundu, those are hundreds and thousands of more jobs that we can get.”
In July, Uhuru launched the Bandari Maritime Academy and witnessed the signing of a deal between the Transport Ministry and the Mediterranean Shipping Company that would revive the Kenya National Shipping Line.
The MSC has since recruited over 256 Kenyan seafarers since the deal was signed.
The shipping line will be recruiting some 2,000 Kenyans annually.
The government has also identified the blue economy as a key sector that will increase the country’s wealth.