Cargo at the Port of Mombasa. [Photo/nation.co.ke]
The Port of Mombasa has been named the best transit and supply facility in the entire Eastern and Southern African region. The facility outdid 12 other contenders to bag the award during a ceremony held in Livingston, Zambia.The second and third position in this category won by the Durban and East London ports respectively. The Mombasa port also came third in the category of best container terminal productivity after South Africa’s Port of Durban and Port of Ngqura respectively.Speaking after receiving the award, KPA Managing Director Mrs Catherine Mturi-Wairi said she is proud to be part of the port’s management team.The award comes after the port handled 6,487,330 tons of cargo between January and September this year against 5,978,090 tons registered during the same period in 2016, which translates to a 8.5 percent increase. Waria said the increase in cargo is attributed to an increase in importation to the neighbouring countries.“This improvement is attributed to an increase in Ugandan traffic by 513,057 tons or 10.5 percent. Similarly, cargo destined for Tanzania, Somalia and Rwanda also increased by 45,310 tons, 8,298 tons and 8,265 tons respectively,” said Wairi, as quoted by KBC.Waria was accompanied by General Manager Corporate Services Mr Edward Kamau, Mr Bernard Osero (Head of Corporate Affairs), Captain William Ruto (Head of Marine Operations) and Mr Fred Oyugi (Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management).