Magufuli, Museveni to officially open Mutukula one stop border post

(Credit: Shamim Saad)

TRADE | ONE STOP BORDER POINT

Presidents Yoweri Museveni and John Pombe Magufuli of Tanzania are set to officially open the Mutukula one stop border post (OSBP) tomorrow in Rakai district.

The OSBP will bring together immigration and customs officials from the two neighboring countries under one roof at the border crossing point, eliminating double clearance of trucks and persons on both sides of the border.

TradeMark East Africa, with funding from UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and Global Affairs Canada, has funded the construction and operationalisation of the Mutukula OSBP.

This is in addition to supporting other OSBP's including: Busia/Busia; Malaba/Malaba; Kabanga/Kobero; Holili/Taveta; Elegu/Nimule; Mirama Hill/Kagitumba) across the region, an investment of approximately $117Million, with an estimated return of $30 for every dollar spent.

Construction of the border post was undertaken by Coil Ltd and Nasr General Construction Company Ltd JV in August, 2013 and was completed in February last year. The other funding was contributed by the Government through the Ministry of Works and Transport through the VAT component of the contract and land acquisition.

According to a statement from TMEA, infrastructure that was constructed at the border post includes freight building, warehouse and cargo inspection shed, parking yards for trucks and passenger buses/cars, light vehicle inspection sheds, power house, scanner yard, entry/exit gates, access roads, external fencing and staff quarters.

Information from the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) indicates that from the time the border post became operational, they have registered an 83% reduction in border clearance time for cargo and passengers crossing from Tanzania to Uganda.

While a 55% reduction in border crossing time has been realised for cargo and passengers travelling in the opposite direction, surpassing the 30% projected reduction in clearance time.

Agencies present at the border include customs, Immigration, UNBS, Police, Security Agencies and others. From the private sector, the facilities are accommodating  women cross border traders, Global Fluids International (a bio-coding of petroleum imports), clearing and forwarding agents and money changers among others.

So far, 165,919MT of cargo have been cleared through the border, according to the Central Corridor Transit Facilitation Agency monitoring report, 2016.