Ugandan cargo ship lost in Mombasa
Jun 01, 2009
A UGANDAN cargo ship mysteriously disappeared from Mombasa harbour, the Kenya Ports Authority has revealed.
By Madinah Tebajjukira
A UGANDAN cargo ship mysteriously disappeared from Mombasa harbour, the Kenya Ports Authority has revealed.
The authority’s managing director, James Mulewa, told visiting Ugandan MPs that the ship disappeared in strange circumstances and that Kenya was wondering why Uganda had not followed up on the matter.
Mulewa reportedly said it was not clear when the ship disappeared, according to Reagan Okumu, the chairperson of the committee on commissions, statutory and state enterprise.
He said the ship had been bought by the defunct Coffee Marketing Board, a Government-owned company in charge of buying and exporting coffee.
“Ships also get stolen, like cars. But we have been wondering what Uganda has been doing about it for all that time,†Okumu quoted Mulewa as saying.
Okumu estimates the loss of the ship to be over $40m (sh90b). “We were shocked to hear that Uganda had a ship at the Kenyan port. This is a big loss to the nation,†he said.
The revelation came during a trip by the committee last month to Mombasa to establish the status of properties managed by Uganda Property Holdings.
In an exclusive interview yesterday, Okumu told The New Vision that the committee had launched a two-way investigation into the matter.
The committee had asked the Kenyan port authority to provide them with more information on the ship’s last dock and its departure from the port. It also assigned the Ugandan consular in Nairobi to pursue the matter and submit the details to the committee.
On the Ugandan side, Okumu said, the committee would write to the ministry of works and transport to establish when the ship was bought, its purpose and whether the ministry was aware of its disappearance.
The committee would also task the ministry to find out the ship’s engine and chassis numbers for easy tracking.
“We have Interpol. If cars can be traced, we can also get back our ship. We just need collaboration of the shipping companies,†Okumu said.
State minister for transport Simon Ejua acknowledged that Uganda had a ship, which was one of the five vessels owned by Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia under the East African Community. The ships, Ejua said, were managed by the East African Shipping Line Company.
He explained that Uganda had MV Uganda, Kenya had MV Harambe and MV Jogofo, Tanzania had MV Jitigimee and Zambia had MV Mulunguzi.
According to Ejua, the Ugandan ship was lost to an unknown company because of debts.
“MV Uganda was impounded in Holland in February 1980 by the creditors for non-payment of fixed supplies,†he said.
He could, however, not confirm whether Uganda was officially informed about the confiscation.
According to a picture of the ship, which the committee obtained from the Kenya Port Authority, it could carry more than 500 containers.
Okumu suspects that Kenya has a hand in the disappearance of the ship. “Kenya has to answer for this. They might have taken advantage of the 1979 situation and chaos in the East African Community to auction the ship. This is bigger than Migingo.â€
Okumu said the committee would also meet the defence minister over the proposal to give the land where the Chieftancy of Military Intelligence is located to Kenya in exchange for a plot in Mombasa.
“We want to meet the minister and ask him to go back to the drawing board. The Ugandan land is more valuable and 10 times bigger than the Mombasa plot,†he noted.
A UGANDAN cargo ship mysteriously disappeared from Mombasa harbour, the Kenya Ports Authority has revealed.
The authority’s managing director, James Mulewa, told visiting Ugandan MPs that the ship disappeared in strange circumstances and that Kenya was wondering why Uganda had not followed up on the matter.
Mulewa reportedly said it was not clear when the ship disappeared, according to Reagan Okumu, the chairperson of the committee on commissions, statutory and state enterprise.
He said the ship had been bought by the defunct Coffee Marketing Board, a Government-owned company in charge of buying and exporting coffee.
“Ships also get stolen, like cars. But we have been wondering what Uganda has been doing about it for all that time,†Okumu quoted Mulewa as saying.
Okumu estimates the loss of the ship to be over $40m (sh90b). “We were shocked to hear that Uganda had a ship at the Kenyan port. This is a big loss to the nation,†he said.
The revelation came during a trip by the committee last month to Mombasa to establish the status of properties managed by Uganda Property Holdings.
In an exclusive interview yesterday, Okumu told The New Vision that the committee had launched a two-way investigation into the matter.
The committee had asked the Kenyan port authority to provide them with more information on the ship’s last dock and its departure from the port. It also assigned the Ugandan consular in Nairobi to pursue the matter and submit the details to the committee.
On the Ugandan side, Okumu said, the committee would write to the ministry of works and transport to establish when the ship was bought, its purpose and whether the ministry was aware of its disappearance.
The committee would also task the ministry to find out the ship’s engine and chassis numbers for easy tracking.
“We have Interpol. If cars can be traced, we can also get back our ship. We just need collaboration of the shipping companies,†Okumu said.
State minister for transport Simon Ejua acknowledged that Uganda had a ship, which was one of the five vessels owned by Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia under the East African Community. The ships, Ejua said, were managed by the East African Shipping Line Company.
He explained that Uganda had MV Uganda, Kenya had MV Harambe and MV Jogofo, Tanzania had MV Jitigimee and Zambia had MV Mulunguzi.
According to Ejua, the Ugandan ship was lost to an unknown company because of debts.
“MV Uganda was impounded in Holland in February 1980 by the creditors for non-payment of fixed supplies,†he said.
He could, however, not confirm whether Uganda was officially informed about the confiscation.
According to a picture of the ship, which the committee obtained from the Kenya Port Authority, it could carry more than 500 containers.
Okumu suspects that Kenya has a hand in the disappearance of the ship. “Kenya has to answer for this. They might have taken advantage of the 1979 situation and chaos in the East African Community to auction the ship. This is bigger than Migingo.â€
Okumu said the committee would also meet the defence minister over the proposal to give the land where the Chieftancy of Military Intelligence is located to Kenya in exchange for a plot in Mombasa.
“We want to meet the minister and ask him to go back to the drawing board. The Ugandan land is more valuable and 10 times bigger than the Mombasa plot,†he noted.