Tony254
JF-Expert Member
- May 11, 2017
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Wadau mimi nilijua kwamba asilimia 20 ya mizigo ya Uganda hupitia Dar es Salaam port sasa leo nimepigwa na butwaa kusoma maneno aliyosema mkurugenzi mkuu wa TRC Masanja Kadogosa kwamba asilimia mbili tu ya mizigo ya Uganda ndio hupitia Dar es Salaam port. Hio ina maana kwamba asilimia 98 ya mizigo ya Uganda inapitia Mombasa port. Aisee inashangaza sana kuona kwamba Watanzania huwa wanapenda kujilinganisha na Kenya huku Kenya imewaacha mbali sana. Hadi mnafungua nyuzi za Dar vs Nai kumbe kwenye port mpo zero kabisa. Nyie kupokea asilimia mbili ya mizigo ya Uganda ni aibu kubwa sana kwa nchi kubwa kama yenu. Soma maneno ya Masanja Kadogosa ambayo nimeyakoleza kwa rangi nyekundu.
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Container terminal and city landscape in port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania on February 21, 2018. PHOTO | FILE NMG
By BRIAN NGUGI
More by this Author
Top US spy agencies have expressed concerns over the political uncertainty around the August 9 General Election in Kenya, warning that any disruptions in East Africa’s largest economy will not be healthy for regional stability.
Kenya, which is a strategic ally of the US in the Horn of Africa, faces another test of stability in a hotly contested presidential election at a time it has emerged as a player in brokering peace in conflicts in Ethiopia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Deputy President William Ruto and ODM party leader Raila Odinga are the leading hopefuls to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, who will leave office at the end of constitutional two terms.
Mr Kenyatta has embarked on an aggressive campaign for the veteran opposition leader Odinga against his renegade deputy, who has been campaigning for close to five years to succeed his boss.
Now, a new report by the heads of US intelligence agencies — who include Avril Haines (director of national intelligence), CIA chief William Burns, General Paul Nakasone (head of the National Security Agency) and FBI director Christopher Wray -- says the US is concerned that Kenya's pivotal role as a regional peace broker could be compromised by domestic distractions related to this year's election.
The annual report titled Worldwide Threat Assessment represents a consensus among the 17 intelligence agencies of major threats confronting the US, and is used by law and policy makers for critical decisions and crafting budgets.
“East Africa probably will see new bouts of conflict in the coming year as the region becomes increasingly strained by the civil war in Ethiopia, power struggles within the transitional government in Sudan, continued instability in Somalia, and a potentially contentious election in Kenya,” it says.
The declassified 31-page document came as the Ugandan Cabinet and legislators voiced concerns about the rising political temperatures in Kenya, which have driven up the cost of living along the Northern Corridor due to hesitancy by importers and transporters to use the route.
The Uganda leaders called on their government to put in place a robust contingency plan for factors that could drive up commodity prices, key of these being the Kenyan elections.
The Rwanda-Uganda border post at Kyanika. Rwanda recently reopened its borders with Uganda, whose closure had cut reliance on the Northern Corridor for imports. Uganda is also looking to the Central Corridor from the port of Dar es Salaam. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Kenya is the main route for imports into Uganda, with oil from international sources delivered to Eldoret, where other Northern Corridor countries Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and eastern DR Congo pick it for transportation to their markets.
“Uganda should facilitate imports and exports through the Central Corridor and deploy more water vessels to connect to the Central Corridor,” said Jane Nalunga, executive director of the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (Seatini) Uganda, that works to promote pro development trade and fiscal policies in Uganda and the region.
She said the Uganda government should have already started expanding the capacity of its reserve fuel storage to buttress the country from supply shocks.
And, taking cue, last week port and rail service providers in Tanzania and Uganda signed a freight forwarding agreement with Roofings Group of Uganda to increase the volume of cargo through the Dar es Salaam port.
The deal involved the Tanzania Ports Authority, the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) and the Uganda Railways Corporation, under the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA).
About two percent of Uganda’s cargo passes through the Dar port, according to TRC Director General Masanja Kadogosa, who said the new deal would see a 30 percent increase in shipping business with Uganda.
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Kenya’s polls heat drives jitters up the Northern Corridor
MONDAY MARCH 14 2022
Container terminal and city landscape in port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania on February 21, 2018. PHOTO | FILE NMG
Summary
- Uganda leaders called on their government to put in place a robust contingency plan for factors that could drive up commodity prices, key of these being the Kenyan elections.
- Last week port and rail service providers in Tanzania and Uganda signed a freight forwarding agreement with Roofings Group of Uganda to increase the volume of cargo through the Dar es Salaam port.
- The US report and the unease in Uganda about the disruption by the Kenyan election might dampen the optimism on the Northern Corridor after Rwanda reopened the land borders with Uganda and Burundi, promising traders better returns and facilitating travel.
By BRIAN NGUGI
More by this Author
Top US spy agencies have expressed concerns over the political uncertainty around the August 9 General Election in Kenya, warning that any disruptions in East Africa’s largest economy will not be healthy for regional stability.
Kenya, which is a strategic ally of the US in the Horn of Africa, faces another test of stability in a hotly contested presidential election at a time it has emerged as a player in brokering peace in conflicts in Ethiopia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Deputy President William Ruto and ODM party leader Raila Odinga are the leading hopefuls to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, who will leave office at the end of constitutional two terms.
Mr Kenyatta has embarked on an aggressive campaign for the veteran opposition leader Odinga against his renegade deputy, who has been campaigning for close to five years to succeed his boss.
Now, a new report by the heads of US intelligence agencies — who include Avril Haines (director of national intelligence), CIA chief William Burns, General Paul Nakasone (head of the National Security Agency) and FBI director Christopher Wray -- says the US is concerned that Kenya's pivotal role as a regional peace broker could be compromised by domestic distractions related to this year's election.
The annual report titled Worldwide Threat Assessment represents a consensus among the 17 intelligence agencies of major threats confronting the US, and is used by law and policy makers for critical decisions and crafting budgets.
Related
ADVERTISEMENT“East Africa probably will see new bouts of conflict in the coming year as the region becomes increasingly strained by the civil war in Ethiopia, power struggles within the transitional government in Sudan, continued instability in Somalia, and a potentially contentious election in Kenya,” it says.
The declassified 31-page document came as the Ugandan Cabinet and legislators voiced concerns about the rising political temperatures in Kenya, which have driven up the cost of living along the Northern Corridor due to hesitancy by importers and transporters to use the route.
The Uganda leaders called on their government to put in place a robust contingency plan for factors that could drive up commodity prices, key of these being the Kenyan elections.
The Rwanda-Uganda border post at Kyanika. Rwanda recently reopened its borders with Uganda, whose closure had cut reliance on the Northern Corridor for imports. Uganda is also looking to the Central Corridor from the port of Dar es Salaam. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Kenya is the main route for imports into Uganda, with oil from international sources delivered to Eldoret, where other Northern Corridor countries Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and eastern DR Congo pick it for transportation to their markets.
Diverting imports
Analysts say Uganda has not learnt from the 2007 polls, when post-election violence in Kenya led to blockage of fuel imports and rail-bound cargo from Mombasa after the railway track was uprooted.“Uganda should facilitate imports and exports through the Central Corridor and deploy more water vessels to connect to the Central Corridor,” said Jane Nalunga, executive director of the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (Seatini) Uganda, that works to promote pro development trade and fiscal policies in Uganda and the region.
She said the Uganda government should have already started expanding the capacity of its reserve fuel storage to buttress the country from supply shocks.
And, taking cue, last week port and rail service providers in Tanzania and Uganda signed a freight forwarding agreement with Roofings Group of Uganda to increase the volume of cargo through the Dar es Salaam port.
The deal involved the Tanzania Ports Authority, the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) and the Uganda Railways Corporation, under the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA).
About two percent of Uganda’s cargo passes through the Dar port, according to TRC Director General Masanja Kadogosa, who said the new deal would see a 30 percent increase in shipping business with Uganda.