The Kenya’s economy may suffer a blow after Kenyans have rejected the recent signed deal between Uhuru and his Uganda’s counterpart Yoweri Museveni for the construction of a dry port.
Local leaders say that they were not consulted over the project that will sit on 78,000-acre disputed Kedong ranch.
The dry port is part of the push for a joint standard gauge railway between these countries.
On Sunday, area MP Lemanken Aramat and two MCAs warned the government over the plan at a fundraiser in Oloirowua. Kedong Ranch Ltd, they said, is registered under the Kenyatta family but the land belongs to the Maasai.
The land touches Nakuru, Kajiado and Narok counties.
Mr. Aramat said the community will make sure the phase 2A of SGR does not continue until they get justice.
“This is a volatile issue. The Maasai have lived in this piece of land since time immemorial and for anyone to ask them to move out is totally unacceptable,” said the MP.
“We shall not sit back and watch as our ancestral land is grabbed by the leadership of this country and we ask the President to stop the plan and initiate a dialogue with the community,” said MCA Kipas Lengues:
Uganda is the biggest market for Kenyan goods and the biggest client to the Port of Mombasa, especially for transit cargo, ahead of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan and Rwanda.
According to the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) 2017 annual performance report, the port saw a marginal 1.1 percent 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 or 6.34 million tonnes.
The dry port will also see Uganda play a more crucial role for the hinterland countries, including Rwanda and DRC, and also hints at Kenya’s commitment to come through with the last mile of the SGR railways line between Kisumu and Malaba, which will see Uganda secure funding for its Kampala-Malaba line.