The Kenyan government has pledged to allocate a prime piece of land in Naivasha for Uganda to develop a dry port for its cargo.
This will take place after the completion of the Standard Gauge Railway phase 2 from Nairobi to Naivasha in June this year.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said the link of the dry port with SGR from Mombasa Port will create an efficient movement of goods between the two countries.
The Head of State further said that the initiative will also reduce the cost of transport for Ugandan investors.
“I have confirmed to President Museveni that with that development in Naivasha and then moving the SGR to Malaba, goods will be able to move from Mombasa to Malaba in just two days,”
He observed that movement of cargo from the Port of Mombasa to Kampala that previously took 21 days has drastically reduced to 7 days since he took over as President.
Uhuru also said that the government is finalizing the construction of the Kisumu petroleum jetty
Together with the oil pipeline, it will ease the transportation of petroleum products across the region.
“For the first time since colonial days, we are utilizing Lake Victoria for transportation thereby reducing the cost of moving fuel (petroleum) to Uganda and increasing
President Museveni said petroleum products will be carried across Lake Victoria to Uganda via tag boats.
“It will be cheaper, faster, safer and away from the roads,” said Museveni.
Nevertheless, Kenyans can’t help but wonder why Uganda has gotten a massive piece of land in Naivasha, one of the most viable regions in the country!
Could there be more to this deal than meets the eye?
Just how Kenya is set to benefit from the construction of the dry port, we are yet to know.
Uganda seems to be the one benefiting vastly from the new deal!