Uhuru to commission Mombasa port expansion

President Uhuru Kenyatta will Saturday commission the first phase of the second container terminal at the port of Mombasa.

The new terminal was handed over to the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) on a temporary basis in February this year, after a protracted court battle stalled the search for a concessionaire.

The new terminal, built at a cost of Ksh.30 billion, has an estimated capacity of 550,000 20 Foot Equivalent Units, and consists of two berths that are numbers 20 with a quay length of 210 meters, and a draft of 12 meters to serve medium size vessels.

Transport Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera said tendering for the implementation of phase two of the project is expected to start in January next 2017.

Nyakera said the project will take between two and three years to complete, adding that phase three of the project will kick off immediately the second is completed.

The government has partnered with Japan International Cooperation Agency for the construction of the entire project, and Japan has already disbursed Ksh.27 billion for the second phase of the project.