- “Funds meant to train staff at KMA have been transferred to an open a liaison office abroad, while the shipping industry here is starved,” Faki said.
- KMA was set up in the 2004 as a semi-autonomous government agency in charge of regulatory oversight over the maritime industry.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
Senators have commenced a probe on purported diversion of Sh47.3 million meant to train Kenya Maritime Authority staff.
The money was allegedly diverted from the Staff Training Fund at KMA to the Kenyan High Commission in London.
Mombasa Senator Mohamed Faki, while seeking a statement from the Standing Committee on Roads, Transportation and Housing, said the money was diverted from the Staff Training Fund at KMA.
“Funds meant to train staff at KMA have been transferred to an open a liaison office abroad, while the shipping industry here is starved,” he said.
Faki regretted that channelling the money to a liaison office may not add value to Kenya’s maritime industry.
He said Kenyan seamen are losing jobs because the country does not have credible maritime training institutions.
“Our maritime institutions do not have sufficient training facilities and qualified tutors. We do not have a training ship and our graduates from JKUAT and Technical University of Mombasa rely on foreign vessels for practical sea training,” Faki said.
The senator said high quality education and training is vital to the growth of the country’s maritime industry.
“Such cannot be accomplished when the premier maritime regulator is insensitive to the training needs of our own,” he said.
Faki said the State Department of Shipping and Maritime in June 2022 wrote to KMA seeking a budget line for establishment of the office of a Maritime Attaché at the Kenya High Commission in the United Kingdom.
He added that State Department of Shipping and Maritime, conveyed the Board’s approval of the reduction in the training budget of Sh47,394,600 and allocation of the same to the Enhancement of Partnerships and Collaboration Department.
Faki further said in August 2022, the amount was paid to the State Department of Shipping and Maritime for purposes of establishing a maritime desk at the Kenya High Commission in the United Kingdom.
“It is my humble submission that this payment is illegal and should not be allowed to stand. The Kenya Maritime Authority is the regulator in matters shipping and maritime,” he said.
Faki said the government has a specific department dealing with the Blue Economy, which is headed by Rt general Samson Mwathethe and should be responsible for matters to do with liaison.
“I pray that the committee shall endeavour to investigate the matter and come up with strong policy frameworks, to deter such violations of the law in future,” he said.
KMA was set up in the 2004 as a Semi-Autonomous Government Agency in charge of regulatory oversight over the Kenyan maritime industry, its safety and security.
Other functions include promoting maritime training, coordinating search and rescue operations in water bodies, preventing maritime pollution and promoting preservation of marine environment.
Its mandate also includes promoting trade facilitation and maritime investments.