Acting in defiance of the Kenyan government, the City of Mombasa plans to go forward with a levy or container tax in order to fund road improvements.
The city’s attitude is that it is cargo traffic to and from the port, including mainly containers, that is causing the city’s roads to deteriorate.
The plan has not met with approval from other stakeholders. The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), which is the port operator and landlord, opposes the tax that will introduce payments to clear imports and exports of US$20 per tonne.
In addition, each ship will have to pay $60 for an inspection, $60 per square metre for compulsory spraying against disease and $40 per container for verification.
The tax is opposed by the national government on the grounds that it will dramatically increase the cost of doing business through the port of Mombasa, and would have the effect of driving shipping lines and cargo owners to use Dar es Salaam as an alternative port.
Government has pointed out that Tanzania is going ahead with building a mega port at Bagamoyo, not far from Dar es Salaam.
City governor Ali Hassan dismisses these claims, saying that no-one will divert their cargo to Dar Es Salaam or Bagamoyo for the sake of $40. He said efficiency was what influenced people in where they shipped their cargo.
KPA chairman Danson Mungatana was sceptical of the proposal, saying he was waiting to see how the city intended implementing the tax. “The port is a national asset, and therefore any legislation by any other body, that contravenes a constitutional provision, becomes null and void.”