Coast MPs have warned against any plot to privatise the Mombasa port or any part of it.
Lawmakers Abdulswamad Nassir (Mvita), Paul Katana (Kaloleni), Mishi Mboko (Likoni), Teddy Mwambire (Ganze) and Mombasa Senator Mohamed Faki said they have unearthed details of individuals who are behind the push to have the Container Terminal 2 privatised.
The CT2 facility cost the government over Sh30 billion, funds from the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
According to Dock Workers Union, some 3,500 port employees risk losing their jobs should CT2 be privatised.
DWU general secretary Simon Sang said there are about four powerful families in the country and one from Italy, who are behind the ‘takeover plot’ of the Mombasa port.
He said the move will also cost the government up to Sh46 billion annually.
Speaking on Friday at his office, Faki said the government intends to contract the Mediterranean Shipping Company through the Kenya National Shipping Line to operate the CT2, just as the intention was in 2019 when the matter first emerged.
“Then, the government sought to amend Section 4 of the Merchant Shipping Act to enable shipping companies to operate port terminals,” Faki said.
“When the amendment fell apart, the government, through an Executive Order purported to transfer KPA to the National Treasury and sought to amalgamate KPA, Kenya Railways Corporation and Kenya Pipeline through the ICDC.”
Faki accused a Principal Secretary of being behind the push.
Echoing similar sentiments on Saturday at the English Point Marina, four MPs said they will expose the names of those behind the push to kill the Coast economy by selling off the Mombasa port to private entities.
Nassir, Katana, Mboko and Mwambire said the will not allow Coast people’s resources to be stolen from under their feet.
Nassir said he will raise the matter in Parliament this week. “We will not sit back and close our eyes or ears. We don’t want to see any of our resources privatised.”
Katana said the plan is to have everything signed and sealed by December 7, taking advantage of the busy political period when politicians are busy campaigning for their re-election.
“That is public property and the public must be involved in any decision regarding it,” he said.
Katana said there is a special secret committee that has been formed to steer the privatisation agenda.
The committee, he said, is made up of top figures from KPA, MSC, Kenya National Shipping Line and the Transport ministry.
“We know there is a very intense push. The matter is supposed to be a top secret,” Katana said.
He urged Coast people and Kenyans at large to be watchful and not allow their assets to be sold off to private individuals.
Mboko said the CT2 must remain a public entity.
“Selling it off to private individuals will weaken the Mombasa port which Coast people and Kenyans at large depend on,” she said.
Mwambire said all Coast leaders must be involved in any discussion regarding resources that benefit Coast people.
“Do not think you can use panya routes to try and steal meat from our mouths again,” the Ganze MP said.
Mwambire said already, Coast leaders made a mistake with the SGR, which has killed the economy of the region, and will not allow such a move again.
This comes amid revelations that the KPA, which was the security for the Chinese loan to fund the SGR project, signed a skewed agreement that exposes it to possible loss of its assets, both present and in future.
During a grilling session by the National Assembly Public Investment Committee chaired by Nassir on Friday, it emerged that former KPA managing director Gichiri Ndua and general manager legal services Muthoni Gatere appended their signatures to the agreement despite glaring disadvantages.
The two have been summoned to appear before the committee to shed more light on the matter.
The committee wants to establish whether the two appended their signatures under duress or not.
According to the agreement which KPA signed, it will be forced to pay up any amount demanded by the China Exim Bank which funded the project, should there be insufficient number of cargo hauled by the SGR.
This could explain the directive by the government to force all cargo to be hauled by the SGR.
To make matters worse, KPA is not allowed to question the amount that would be demanded.
The agreement also indicates that should there be any dispute, arbitration will have to be done in Beijing and not in Kenya.
KPA has not been able to meet the required amount of freight and has estimated in their financial statements that if the agreement was to be implemented, KPA would bear a loss of Sh1.85 billion.
On Saturday, Katana warned that Chine Exim Bank could soon take over the port due to the agreement.
“As you know, they have already take over the Entebbe Airport in Uganda because of the same skewed deals,” he said.
On Friday, KPA acting managing director John Mwangemi appeared before the committee at the English Point Marina to answer an audit query on port projects.
The committee chairman said they will also summon Transport CS James Macharia as KPA was under his docket before being transferred to the National Treasury.
-Edited by SKanyara
