•Some of the items were delivered last year but are yet to be cleared.
•The goods are in more than 750 containers, which the Kenya Revenue Authority has invited the public to view at Mombasa Port and at the Inland Container Depot, Embakasi.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
Uncleared goods belonging to among others the KDF, the ICT Ministry and Kenya Power will be auctioned next month.
The goods are in more than 750 containers, which the Kenya Revenue Authority has invited the public to view at Mombasa Port and at the Inland Container Depot, Embakasi.
Some 254 containers are set for disposal if not collected by September 17 at the ICD while 479 are at the KRA's Kilindini Harbour warehouse.
One lot of 175 containers of varied sizes is listed for sale if not cleared by September 24 while another of 304 containers is due for auction by October 8.
A Kenya Defence Forces container has raincoats and webbing equipment.
The law requires that any goods deposited in a Customs warehouse are removed within 30 days, failure to which they will be deemed abandoned.
Section 42 of the EAC Customs Management Act, 2004, gives the KRA commissioner the power to put such uncleared cargo on sale by public auction.
The UNHCR, Education ministry, NIC Bank, Ketraco, Sony Sugar, East African Packaging Industries (EAPL), and car importers are among notable entities whose cargo is due for sale.
“Unless the under-mentioned goods are entered and removed from the Customs Warehouse within thirty days, they will be sold by public auction on September 17,” Rosemary Mureithi, Embakasi ICD chief manager, said in the August 16 notice.
“Interested buyers may view the goods at KENCOTT, AUT, MCT, CB2, BFT, FOC and CCF on October 3 and 4, 2019 during office hours,” Abdul Malik Hussein, chief manager Port Operations, said in connection with the first lot of the non-cleared containers in Mombasa.
Those set for sale by September 24 can be viewed at MIT, POR, BFT, GLP, MCF, RLC, MILD, FOC, and MICT on September 19 and 20, 2019, during office hours.
Heritage Group of Companies has a 20-ft container with items declared as Gari Food which is set for sale if not cleared with KRA.
Image: FILE
Pharmaceuticals dealer United Pharma was also put on notice after it failed to clear a container with an assortment of medicines.
The UNHCR’s cargo included seven containers of 360-pack bales of tarpaulins and solar lamps. The items arrived on various dates between April 6 and June 6.
The Education Ministry has also failed to clear a container with building and civil engineering training maintenance equipment.
Ketraco’s gantries and assorted accessories - HVDC valves, CCTV systems, and transformer firefighting equipment - are among the items set for auction.
They include two 40-ft containers cables and their associated accessories for the Sondu-Thurdibuoro-Homa Bay-Ndhiwa-Awendo high voltage line.
The containers – including one with low voltage cables for fixing lightning arrestors, were delivered on diverse dates in May and June, hence past the 30-day window for clearance.
Tanathi Water Services waterwork project equipment is also set for disposal. The three 40-ft containers were delivered in March.
Four containers with telecommunication material imported by the ICT Ministry are listed in the sale notice. They have not been cleared since April.
Kenya Power has since February failed to clear Pole Line hardware from the ICD Embakasi.
Alcoholic drinks distributor UDV has not cleared three containers with cases of Scotch whiskey delivered in June.
Kenya Forestry Research Institute imported wood and bamboo working machine, handsaws, Miter saw, and electric hand planner which are not cleared.
A number of used-car importers, second-hand clothes and shoe dealers, and electronic goods vendors have been affected after failing to clear the goods as required.
Sony Sugar imported boiler bank tubes but having failed to clear them with KRA, the items are now subject of the auction.
NIC Bank has not cleared five 40-feet containers. Similarly, several importers are yet to clear bicycles, fridges, printers, and photocopying machines.
Roads contractor Sinohydro has not cleared a container with cement-bonding materials – ostensibly for ongoing roadworks.
Packaging firm EAPL is also yet to clear an assortment of containers (19) with reels of ultraflute among other materials used in the manufacture of carrier bags.
Africa Spirits Limited – which has been in trouble with KRA and DCI over alleged use of Kebs stamps, is also yet to clear two 40-ft containers with empty glass bottles.
Also in the list is drill string component imported by KenGen, probably for ongoing works at the geothermal wells in Olkaria.
African Cotton Industries is bound to lose twelve 40-ft containers with rolls of toilet tissue paper.
The notices came in the wake of the recent upheaval over a government directive that all containers be hauled by SGR for clearance at the ICD.
Truckers and politicians from the Coast protested the directive by Kenya Revenue Authority and KPA.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia told MPs the order followed malpractices at the port of Mombasa, citing some importers that evade duty, hence occasioning losses to the taxpayer.
The CS was before the Transport committee where members raised concerns about efficiency at the various points of cargo clearance.
“This evidence is available. We got many cases in Mariakani weighbridge. The thinking of the two agencies was to ensure we seal the revenue leakage,” the CS said at the time.
Members of the Kenya International Freight and Warehouse Association (Kifwa) have over time complained of the slow pace of cargo clearance, citing inefficiency on the part of KRA.
Changamwe MP Omar Mwinyi – also a clearance agent, cited inefficiencies at the port as the cause of delays in declaration and entry of cargo.
“We need measures that support KPA to be more efficient,” the lawmaker said. His view was echoed by his Mvita counterpart Abdulswamad Nassir.
The lawmaker faulted the insistence on cargo being cleared at the ICD saying the system should be such that importers can clear their goods wherever they are.