By Paul Busharizi
in Mombasa

Containers are piling up in Mombasa port and more than 100 trailers are marooned between the coastal town and the Uganda border as the post-election violence in Kenya continues.

In addition, hundreds of wagons with Ugandan cargo are stuck between Mombasa and the Ugandan border following the vandalisation of the railway in Nairobi and Kisumu.

Clearing and forwarding agents are warning of commodity shortages following renewed violence in the Kenyan rift valley.

Last week, the transporters umbrella organisation stopped its members from travelling through western Kenya until the government guaranteed security.

On Wednesday, Kenyan Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and security minister George Saitoti told separate meetings that the government would step up security on Kenya’s highways.

The assurances were enough for scores of trucks to start trudging west from Mombasa on Thursday.

But news of the killing of a second MP in Eldoret and the subsequent riots on the western route halted the process instantly.

“We are only moving if we are cleared by our bosses,” said Henry, one of the over 50 truck drivers stuck at the Kenya Revenue Authority weigh-bridge outside Mombasa town.

“I have lost friends since the beginning of this year and our company has lost more than five trailers. We need to know we will be safe when we travel,” he said from under the truck, where he was resting.

Several dozen other drivers and turnboys were milling around in the afternoon sun, their trucks parked about two kilometres from Mariakani weighbridge on Mombasa road – Uganda’s main artery to the sea.

Insurance companies are not covering the losses due to the riots. They do not cover losses due to political risk or mob action, a forwarding agent said.

Kenya Ports Authority harbour master Captain Twaib Khamis said about 4,000 containers to Uganda had not been cleared.

He also said in addition to the 17,000 containers at the port, there were 21 ships waiting to offload their cargo. The ideal capacity of Mombasa port is 12,000 containers.

There might have been some relief were the railway working effectively, but angry mobs have torn up sections of the railway line between Nairobi and western Kenya, ruling that out as an option.

“The damage is limited to about six kilometres of railway track at Kibera and Kisumu,” Rift Valley Railways managing director Roy Paffut said.

“As of Wednesday morning, we had about 11 incidents of railway track damage along the Nairobi-Malaba railway line. Cost assessments for the damage are still being undertaken but is expected to cost more than Ksh20m (sh500m). As a result of the violence the line has been closed for most of January.

About 400 wagons loaded with Kampala-bound cargo are stuck in various railway stations along the Nairobi-Mombasa line and will be released once the line is reopened, Paffut said.

The first batch of 400 trucks arrived at Malaba border with escorts provided by the Kenya army.

Meanwhile clearing agents at the port are being weighed down by accumulated storage and other charges arising from the delays.

“Since December we are paying $30-$60 a day in port storage per container,” an agent belonging to a clearing and forwarding firm which handles only Ugandan cargo told the New Vision.

“I used to load at least 30 containers daily but now I am down to five a day … I am paying port storage for more than 100 containers stuck in the port.” He said 40 more trucks were stuck in Nairobi.