During a dinner on Wednesday evening in honour of President Museveni who was on a two-day State visit to Kenya, Mr Kenyatta said the country will offer Uganda land to build a dry port for its cargo in Naivasha.

EXPANSION

However, in a press briefing at DWU headquarters in Mombasa, Mr Sang said: “What are the concessional rates the government is proposing? Taking into consideration the fact that we invest a lot in the port, meaning the rates for whatever cargo that comes into the port should be able to take care of the expansion of our facilities.”

Uganda is the biggest market for Kenyan goods and the biggest client to the Mombasa port, especially for transit cargo, ahead of Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Rwanda.

According to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 2017 annual performance report, the port saw a marginal 1.1 per cent increase in transit goods traffic to 7.75 million tonnes.

Uganda remained as the largest of the hinterland market, accounting for 81.9 per cent of the traffic (6.34 million tonnes).

DRY PORT

The dry port will see Uganda play a more crucial role for the hinterland countries, including Rwanda and DRC.

The deal is a sign of Kenya’s commitment to the SGR railways line between Kisumu and Malaba, which will also see Uganda secure funding for its Kampala-Malaba line.

Uganda already has a property — Uganda Property Holdings Ltd — strategically placed near the Mombasa port.

Last year, Uganda negotiated with Kenya on the lease of its property as the country was implementing a new land law that prohibits foreigners from owning property near territorial borders.