President Uhuru Kenyatta is on Tuesday expected to again visit the lakeside city of Kisumu for the official launch of the refurbished Kisumu Port, done at Sh3 billion.
However, the port might not be as beneficial as many would want to think.
Here are the reasons why the port might end up being useless to locals or even crawl back to disgrace soon;
1. It will not be free
Despite drawing attention among Kenyans, due to the mere fact that it's located in Kisumu, this is just another of the government's income-generating activities.
This is because it will be managed by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), which means that the proceeds will automatically end up with the central government and thanks to the corruption menace, a huge portion will most likely be lost.
This would be different had it been under the county government, but as things are now, it is directly under the central government.
Also, apart from ferry services, all other transport services will be paid for, and will probably cost more than what locals have been spending on boats and dhows.
2. Might soon collapse again
The port is being revived from years of sleep, given that it has been largely dormant over the last several years and, therefore, there is nothing preventing it from going silent again.
This has been the case with all the facilities President Uhuru Kenyatta's government has tried to revive, including Mumias Sugar and others, ending up dead shortly after.
It has also been seen as a mark of the political union between Uhuru and ODM leader Raila Odinga, in exclusion of Deputy President William Ruto.
Given that the DP has not been as interested in the port, he might just shun it in the event that he becomes president, due to lack of interest and as a revenge for the humiliation he has been undergoing under the Uhuru-Raila union.
3. Local transporters will be rendered jobless
While the city is appearing to have climbed the ladder one step ahead on matters infrastructural development, many locals are set to lose their jobs as a result of the port refurbishment.
It is worth noting that many more have since lost their businesses after their stalls were demolished to create room for the expansion.
Now, the ships operating from the port will displace people whose work is transporting people and goods across the lake using private boats and other simple water transport vessels.
This is because due to the excitement, the majority of the consumers of these services will try the new water vessels which will be docking at the port.
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