Trade between the East African countries has been booming and moving on swiftly over the years. However, the growing congestion at the border points has raised concerns as there are always delays involved due to long queues in line with clearing and, at times, the high costs that come with the whole process. This has posed the need to expand and improve infrastructure to suit the growing demand. Writes Edward Kayiwa

At the onset of last year, James Mugerwa, a Ugandan garments trader, was stuck for nearly a week, waiting for his goods to reach Kampala from Malaba at the Uganda-Kenya border crossing. The historical interstate (crossing) landmark was congested, as trucks lined up for almost three kilometres inside Kenya, waiting to be cleared by Ugandan authorities, before crossing.

According to Mugerwa, the congestion was mainly occasioned by an increase in traffic from both Uganda and Kenya, with most of the cargo crossing to the Kenyan side.

Official trade records indicate that over the last three years, Uganda has been exporting more to Kenya, with 2019 recording the highest exports at $282m.

Last year, the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Co-ordination Authority (NCTTCA) conducted a survey, which was aimed at finding alternative routes to the much-congested borders, highlighting the use of the standard gauge railway and the inland container depot at Naivasha, among other alternatives.

According to the director of infrastructure development and management at NCTTCA Prof. Lievin Chihalwarwa, there is need for the region to expand its infrastructure, to suit the growing demand for the same.

He says the region should now look to exploit alternatives, such as the vast Lake Victoria and other inland water resources, whose potential has not yet been fully exploited.

Although Kenya has already built a jetty at Kisumu, with Uganda steadily following with a half complete jetty at Kawuku, Chihalwarwa says more should be done.

“What we have seen at Kawuku is good for the region, because it will reduce about 1,000km for transporters from Burundi, Rwanda and DRC, which is good for business.

However, more infrastructure, like this is needed to speed up growth in the region,” he says.

With the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to pose huge challenges to the region’s logistics industry and the punctuated occurrences of road carnages along the northern Corridor, Chihalwarwa says a safer, more efficient and cheaper alternative is the way to go.

Benon Kajuna, the director of transport at the works ministry, says the Government has already embarked on several infrastructure projects geared towards enhancing trade facilitation on the northern route.

“We have a programme geared towards rehabilitation of the meter gauge rail all the way from Malaba to Kampala and have also revived the route through Lake Victoria to Kisumu and Mwanza by way of the wagon ferries,” he says.

Presently, Uganda’s MV Kaawa and MV Pamba are functional and complementing Kenya’s Uhuru and Tanzania’s Umoja across Africa’s largest freshwater lake.

The Northern Corridor is a passageway linking the five East African countries from the port of Mombasa in Kenya, through Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern side of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The route, which is the lifeline of the region, is continuously facing challenges that affect cross border trade, slowing down commerce and causing shocks to economies struggling to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

THE ALTERNATIVES

According to Chihalwarwa, one of the most underutilised, yet potentially fulfilling alternatives, is Lake Victoria, shared by three of the five partner states.

He says the construction of the Kisumu and Kawuku jetties is perhaps one of the most brilliant undertakings in the region, with more alternatives needed over time.

Railway wagon ferry MV Kawa. Uganda’s MV Kaawa is functional and complementing Kenya’s Uhuru and Tanzania’s Umoja

According to Kajuna, the Government has already secured more than 500 acres in Bukasa, Wakiso district for the construction of a modern inland container depot (ICD), although, according to the area Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, confusion still surrounds the compensation of project-affected persons.

Although Jinja port, which used to be home to several powerful water vessels plying Kisumu, Mwanza-Jinja is now a skeleton of its former shape, Kajuna says the Government has recently revived activity at the port.

He adds that within the next four years, the Government is expected to spend billions of shillings to refurbish and replace the century-old meter-gauge railway line, as an alternative route to the seaport of Mombasa.

According to Kajuna, the Government will also purchase more locomotives and rehabilitate some existing ones to do the job.

He says the Kampala-Malaba line will also be rehabilitated, along with the Tororo-Gulu, Gulu-Pakwach and the Kampala- Kasese lines to facilitate regional trade.

Already, the European Union has provided up to €21.5m (about sh96.34b) for the revival of the €34.6m (about sh155.1b) Tororo-Pakwach line, which fell silent decades ago. The remaining €13.1m (about sh58.7b) will come in counterpart funding from the Government.

The 375km northern line from Tororo, Gulu to the South Sudan border at Nimule has been dysfunctional for more than 20 years, leaving the logistical freight burden to the roads sector.

According to Kajuna, revamping this line will increase Uganda’s total railway freight by at least 60,000 tonnes, revive the growth of factories and increase agricultural production in the northern region.

According to Chihalwarwa, Uganda’s move to rehabilitate the railway line coincides with Kenya’s decision to construct a rail link between the Naivasha Inland Container Depot and the Longonot Railway Station.

“The 24.3km link will ensure cargo from the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) moves to the old line at the interchange point, located at the ICD in Naivasha for onward movement to Kampala, then Burundi, Rwanda and DRC,” he says.

In January, Kenya’s transport and infrastructure cabinet secretary, James Macharia, commissioned the rehabilitation of the 460km Longonot to Malaba line, linking Uganda to the SGR line in Naivasha. Alternatively, Kajuna says transporters could use the route to Busia, via Lumino, since the road has already been upgraded.

“There are other opportunities for our transporters through Kisii, in Kenya, to Isebania up to Naivasha, which is shorter for transporters going to Burundi, the lower parts of the DRC and Rwanda,” he says.

H adds that transporters could also use the route through Bumbobi– Bubulo to Lwakhakha border to get to Kenya, although the road needs upgrading.

Chihalwarwa says the northern corridor secretariat is in talks with the EAC secretariat, to convince Tanzania to fulfil the conditions that are needed for cargo to move from the port of Mombasa to the hinterlands of DRC, Burundi and Rwanda, through its territory.

TRANSPORTERS SPEAK OUT

According to Lino Criel Icila, the secretary-general of the Uganda Clearing Industry and Forwarding Association, the main route for inbound cargo has for a long time been by road, with new alternatives poised to relieve transporters of costs, time wastage and risks.

“Generally, when you use water and the railway, it is cheaper and more convenient, but also safer compared to the roads,” he says.

Icila adds that it would also be convenient if goods could be hauled by rail to Kisumu, then ferried to Port Bell via the lake. He, however, decries the delays in the implementation of Uganda’s regional infrastructure projects, although he quickly suggests this could be due to financing constraints. The chairperson of the Uganda truck drivers’ association, Biron Kinene, says the alternatives are only as good as they are able to cut costs for the transporters and their clients.