MOMBASA'S MOMENTOUS PORT

The Port of Mombasa is Kenya's busiest and largest seaport, serving the hinterland by exporting important agricultural products and supporting the foundation of the Kenyan economy. The port was established in January 1978 under an Act of Parliament, and is mandated to manage and operate the Port of Mombasa and all other seaports that include Lamu, Malindi, Kilifi, Mtwapa, Kiunga, Shimoni, Funzi and Vanga. In addition, the Authority manages Inland Waterways as well as Inland container and depots at Embakasi, Eldoret and Kisumu .The Port of Mombasa is the gateway to East and Central Africa,and is one of the busiest Ports along the East African coastline. 

The Port provides direct connectivity to over 80 Ports worldwide. In December 2019, President Kenyatta flagged off a cargo train from Nairobi to Naivasha marking the start of operations at the Naivasha inland container depot. Political leaders and locals accused jubilee of neglecting the needs of Mombasa residents since over the years, the coastal region has been the heart of Kenya's port. And there were protests in Mombasa by the cargo transporters and shippers for fear of loss of livelihoods. During the just recent campaigns ,the newly elected president William Ruto gave his word to return the ports back to Mombasa and true to his word when he assumed office on September 13, President Ruto announced that he will return all port services to Mombasa from Naivasha.

“I will be issuing instructions and other attendant operational issues to revert to the port of Mombasa. This will restore thousands of jobs in the city of Mombasa,” Ruto had pledged.

With a projected revenue of up to 64.09B the Kenya Ports Authority serves as an important economical... to the coastal residents. The port in liason with the county government will help support the county's medium to longterm development agendas which include; Education institutions and facilities through KPA’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme which will immensely help ease the burden of many parents as they pay for their children's school fees, development of support infrastructure aimed at creating an enabling environment for port operations and improving the livelihoods of people living around port facilities, development of small ports and inland water ways to promote fishing and regional trade ; Since fishing is highly practiced in the coastal region many fishermen will benefit from the Kenya Ports Authority regional development projects and finally Support of health institutions through KPA’s CSI health Programme. All these are just but a few economical imapcts of why The Kenya Ports of Authority is strategically the heart of the Coastal region and in this case; Mombasa County.