
Some of the Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Revenue Authority employees who were charged with fraud after clearing cargo without payment of custom duty. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUPĀ
Corrupt business people are colluding with Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Ports Authority workers to delay processing of cargo documents by jamming computer systems.
Investigations by a multi-agency security team established that the revenue authority system is jammed to enable false declarations of goods passing through the port.
Coast regional coordinator Nelson Marwa said the syndicate was in the portās terminal.
āThis is a sophisticated outfit that interferes with the system so that when a containerās documents are fed into the system, it reads error. This is not done by a layman but by individuals within. They bring in expensive goods and declare them as small cargo,ā he said.
When 124 containers were stolen from the port three weeks ago, the revenue agency sacked some workers and introduced stringent measures to safeguard cargo. Besides theft, illicit cargo including hard drugs has passed through the port.
However, sources indicate that a syndicate connected to some workers was bent on sabotaging the changes to maintain the status quo
Two weeks ago, close to 1,000 trucks were stuck at the port due to slow clearance at the main exit gate 18. This was blamed on workers who tampered with the system to create a crisis.
SABOTAGING MANAGING DIRECTOR
This was the reason, sources said, why President Uhuru Kenyatta accused the workers of sabotaging managing director Catherine Mturi.
Speaking when he commissioned the second container terminal last Saturday, the President warned that sabotage of top management would not be allowed.
āThere are some people who want to frustrate the MD. Mnaenda mnakwamisha magari pale kwa mlango lakini tunajua hayo, mnafikiria hatujiu? (There are some of you who create congestion at the exit gate. We are aware of this),ā he said.
āThose who are trying to frustrate the MD are the ones who will go first, so this must stop. If you think you will threaten people like that, forget,ā he said.
The President also told the revenue authority chairman Masden Madoka to crack down on officers who colluded with crooks to steal cargo.
āThe main problem at this port is theft and we know that these things are done by business people who collude with your officers and corrupt police officers. We must ensure that this must stop,ā he said.
Ms Mturi could not be reached for comment on this story as she was said to be in a meeting.
Source: Daily Nation
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