Effective 1st June, 2020, all transit cargo destined for Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan will be transported either on the Standard Gauge Railway(SGR) for clearance at the Inland Container Depot in Naivasha or metre gauge to Tororo/Kampala.
All transit cargo railed to Inland Container Depot(ICD) at Naivasha will be collected by trucks to partner states via Malaba or Busia. Further, fuel products will be transported by pipeline to Kisumu and thereafter Lake Victoria to Port Bell or Jinja.
In a video conference held on 12th May, 2020 between Excellencies Paul Kagame(Rwanda), Yoweri Museveni( Uganda) and Salvar Maryardit Kiir of South Sudan and Uhuru Kenyatta of Republic of Kenya, Ministers responsible for Health, Transport and EA Affairs were directed to work on a regional mechanism for monitoring of truck drivers to reduce the impact of the pandemic.
All transit cargo containers transported on SGR will be armed only at the ICD in Naivasha to be tracked through the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System.
All export cargo not railed on metre gauge railway will be delivered on the ICD at Naivasha for railage to the Port of Mombasa.
The East African Community regional economic block has also resolved to adopt a Digital Surveillance and Tracking System for all transit cargo drivers to reduce the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
At the video meet, the four Heads of State directed that the Nairobi-Naivasha Standard Gauge Railway(SGR)line be used by Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan to move their cargo, reducing the road distance to the three countries by 600 kilometres and contain COVID-19.
” Deployment of staff to the Inland Container Depot(ICD) at Naivasha is expected to be finalized to ensure smooth clearance of the cargo,” said James Macharia, Kenya’s Transport Minister.
Kenya Ports Authority(KPA), as the lead agency on port matters, has already provided requisite office accommodation to the Revenue Authorities of Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.
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