Kenya has bowed to regional pressure to abolish the Amagoro and Eldoret weighbridges to enhance movement on the Northern Corridor. The revelation followed a four-hour workshop in Tororo, Uganda, recently convened by EAC officials to train stakeholders involved in cargo clearance on how to fill the questionnaire of a survey on the transit monitoring scheme on the Northern Corridor.
The regional study which will be launched today (Monday) will capture Mariakani, Athi River, Gilgil and Webuye weighbridges. Uganda, which has only Busitema weighbridge between Malaba and Kampala pushed for the removal of the two.
However, participants from Kenya and Uganda queried the omissions of some agencies in the time release study. Teso OCPD Elphas Korir drew the attention of the EAC officials that Amagoro weighbridge was missing from the proposed study. Industry players said the scrapping of Amagoro weighbridge will affect trucks facilitation at the Malaba border.
Another Kenyan participant, Otia Odeo said Malaba Town Council had not been captured in time release study report and yet they are stakeholders by virtue of collecting revenue of inbound trucks.
The World Customs Organisation initiative seeks to improve cargo clearance between the Port of Mombasa and Kampala. EAC officials, Rovincer Komugisha, Jonathan Sessanga and Paulins Tiromwe said the outcome of the study report will help expedite goods clearance.
The regional time release study aims to identify problems on inbound and outbound cargo from Mombasa and Kampala respectively. They said data collection and analysis will take two months with the final report expected by June 30. The officials said the outcome will resolve counter accusations between KRA, URA and the police over the delay in clearing of transit cargo.
The Malaba Uganda police station boss Joseph Mwesigye said the drivers prefer to travel at night for fear of being harassed by police during the day, adding that is being addressed to ensure that there is uninterrupted movement of cargo.
