Kenya falls short of rail cargo growth, slum upgrade targets

Money Markets

 

Trucks at Mombasa port. World Bank says Kenya did not meet its target to increase cargo handled by rail from 1.56 million tonnes in 2009 to 2.3 million tonnes in 2013. Photo/FILE 

By GEOFFREY IRUNGU

In Summary

• After rising in financial year 2011 to 1.7 million tonnes, it fell to 1.6 million tonnes in the period to June 2012. The report said that the figure was expected to fall further.

Kenya missed the targets on lifting cargo by rail and upgrading of slums that it had set with the World Bank for the five years to 2013 but scored highly in Internet uptake, financial inclusion and road rehabilitation.

 

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A scorecard by the bank on the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) Paper 2008-10 also said that governance benchmarks were not met.

The CPS targeted to increase the annual freight carried by Kenya-Uganda railway from 1.56 million tonnes in 2009 to more than 2.3 million tonnes last year.

“[This was] not achieved: Freight handled has not increased to reach the target,” said the CPS report.

After rising in financial year 2011 to 1.7 million tonnes, it fell to 1.6 million tonnes in the period to June 2012. The report said that the figure was expected to fall further.

READ: Spotlight on RVR as rail share of cargo drops further

Out of the 23 million tonnes that went through the Mombasa port, only four to six per cent is evacuated by rail, which amounts to just about 1.4 million tonnes last year.
That is an indication that the rail system is increasingly taking less of the freight from the port.

According to the Shippers’ Council data, freight transported by rail used to be about 60 per cent between the 1960 and the 1980s.

In terms of infrastructure the condition of the Northern Corridor road, which is between Mombasa and Malaba, was to improve to fair or good condition. In 2009, it was put at 54 per cent but it was supposed to improve to 80 per cent by 2013. The CPS 2014-18 report said this had actually been achieved by December 2012.

The time taken to travel by road from the Mombasa port to Malaba was supposed to fall from the annual average 18 hours per vehicle in 2009 to 12 hours by 2013. The report said that this had mostly been achieved.

The target of 50,000 urban slum residents who gain access to improved infrastructure services under the Informal Settlements Improvement Project was not achieved by June last year. The ongoing Nairobi Metropolitan Services Project is intended to upgrade slums by 2020.

Under the transparency and accountability pillar, the report said that Treasury submission of central government annual financial statements to the Kenya National Audit Office had improved to four months in 2012, but was still below the accepted international practice of less than a month.