Even before its launch, the Sh3 billion refurbished Kisumu Port is already proving to be a project which might need a lot more job done to be fully effective and beneficial.
This is with regards to the fact that the port remains largely unaccessible for the outside world, on matters of cargo transport, owing to the absence of a reliable railway system to the port.
In the absence of any railway, both the Standard and Meter gauge, to feed the port with cargo, experts say that the port has very slim chances of making business.
Dutch firm Royal Haskoning DHV has since released a feasibility study report, which says that the port might also collapse due to cargo owners finding it better using the road.
According to the firm, should there be a link of the Standard Gauge Railway between Kenyan and Uganda, then the port will be doomed as cargo owners will find it easier using the train.
“In case SGR passes through Kisumu en route to Kampala, Kisumu is unlikely to capture very much Ugandan cargo, and will rely mainly on transit cargo for Rwanda, Burundi and North West Tanzania," reads the report.
It says that with regards to transporting cargo to the neighbouring nations, Mombasa port will have to outsmart the Dare salaam one to enable Kisumu Port to get business.
‘‘The latter is also vulnerable to competition from the proposed SGR line from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, and would rely to a large extent on the port of Mombasa being able to outperform the port of Dar es Salaam in terms of service quality and price,” it further reads.
The World Bank has also weighed in on the matter, pointing out that most of the ports the Kisumu Port is supposed to link with are in a bad state, making it questionable where it will deliver its cargo.
The port was initially scheduled to be launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta, in a function that was to be attended by regional heads of state, an event that was postponed at the last minute.
Two weeks ago, another planned launch of the project, dubbed a product of Uhuru and ODM leader Raila Odinga, again flopped.