Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir's push to enhance revenue through new shipping levies has received the support of President William Ruto's government.
The governor has rattled his ODM party circles with his increasingly cosy relationship with Ruto even as he seeks the support of the government in changing the fortunes of Mombasa County.
It has emerged that the proposed levies were the subject of a lengthy meeting between the governor and the President on Tuesday at the State House.
The county boss also received the backing of the President and commitment to the digitisation of land records in Mombasa.
The governor said he discussed the proposals with the President to iron out previous issues that blocked the county from generating revenue from the Port of Mombasa.
The Kenya Ports Authority had previously raised concerns with levies on shipping containers.
The President appears to have stepped in to ensure harmony between the Kenya Ports Authority and Mombasa County Government, in a paradigm shift for mutual benefits.
The radical shift in the running of the Mombasa County affairs through consultation with the national government is part of Abdulswamad's strategic plan to avert squabbles.
In the County Finance Finance Bill 2022/2023 which is currently before the County Assembly, Abdulswamad's administration intends to charge port cess for containers.
The containers per Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit will be charged Sh1,237 while loose cargo will be levied Sh61, all of them per tonne.
The Bill also proposes to extract Port Health charges per vessel-international at Sh123,600 and local at Sh2,472.
The governor has said that the Port of Mombasa is currently straining the county's infrastructure while globally, all the port cities benefit directly from their facilities.
Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa), Shippers Council of Eastern Africa and clearing and forwarding agents have already backed the levies.
"We have been having conversations with Governor Nassir and gave him our proposals on how the county can be assisted because it is true their facilities are stretched because of the activities around the port," Kifwa CEO Gilbert Lagat told the Nation.
When Abdulswamad met Ruto on Tuesday, the two also discussed how the digitisation of land in the coastal city can be fast-tracked.
Speaking to the Star after his meeting, the governor said his administration is committed to ending once and for all the persistent land ownership wrangles that have stifled growth in the county.
He said the move will make detecting land fraud easy as every transaction will have a footprint that can be traced.
The process will also see transactions go paperless and cut the waiting time that residents have had to endure to get land-related services.
“We want to ensure that parcels of land in the city are digitised to deal with fraud and ensure our people don’t get frustrated when seeking basic services that should spur growth,” the governor said.