Kenya Ports Authority implements cargo tracking software

Two weeks after promising efficient services through automation and use of improved software, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has activated the Kilindini Waterfront Automated System (KWATOS) at a cost of 450 million Kenyan shillings (US$7 million).

Ugandan business executives, who had voiced concerns over the slow pace of clearance and coordination between the KPA and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), hope the automation will streamline services at the port and in the region, said William Kidima, a Ugandan business community representative.

Port users from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Northern Tanzania had expressed frustration at the slow pace of goods clearance at the port and the culture of corruption that was embedded at every stage of the clearance process, leading to higher costs of living.

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Two weeks after promising efficient services through automation and use of improved software, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has activated the Kilindini Waterfront Automated System (KWATOS) at a cost of 450 million Kenyan shillings (US$7 million).

Ugandan business executives, who had voiced concerns over the slow pace of clearance and coordination between the KPA and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), hope the automation will streamline services at the port and in the region, said William Kidima, a Ugandan business community representative.

Port users from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Northern Tanzania had expressed frustration at the slow pace of goods clearance at the port and the culture of corruption that was embedded at every stage of the clearance process, leading to higher costs of living.

The accusation that Kenya is contributing to higher costs of goods in the region was also supported by a World Bank study that claimed that Kenya was partly to blame for rising food prices in land-locked countries in the Great Lakes region.

KWATOS has to be backed by competent and motivated port staff; the containers have to be moved from one point to the other and through the scanners, Kidima said.

The port management will no longer have excuses for delays such as those that have been occurring at the gates, according to Peter Mambembe, vice chairman of Kenya International Freight & Warehousing Association.

The software was bought and implemented by Total Soft Bank, a Korean firm, under the supervision of Amos Wangora, KPA's designated project manager. With all details available online, the software is expected to reduce overhead costs, bureaucracy and corruption. The system has automated marine operations, as well as operations in the container terminal, conventional cargo terminal and inland container depots in Nairobi and Kisumu. The system also improves coordination of services between the port and the Simba system used by KRA.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.