The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) have announced a raft of new measures aimed at easing congestion and speeding up cargo clearance at the Port of Mombasa vital gateway for regional trade.
The two agencies, on Thursday, November 6, 2025, signed a joint communiqué at the KPA Headquarters in Mombasa, outlining immediate steps to improve efficiency, cut costs for traders, and strengthen coordination across Kenya’s main transport corridors.
The meeting was chaired by the Executive Office of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors and attended by key port stakeholders, including the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Kenya Railways, the Kenya Ships Agents Association, and the Shippers Council of Eastern Africa, among others.
As part of the deal, importers will now benefit from a 30-day waiver on storage and warehouse rent for long-stay cargo, a move designed to encourage faster clearance and reduce backlog at the port.
“In a bid to encourage evacuation of containerized cargo, KPA and KRA will waive 100% of accrued storage and warehouse rent for long-stay cargo upon lodgement of waiver application by the affected customers for a period of 30 days,” the two agencies said in a joint statement.
The KPA and KRA also called on shipping lines to support the clean-up exercise by waiving container detention and demurrage charges, which are often blamed for high logistics costs and delays. However, the authorities clarified that port fees, rail freight charges, and statutory taxes will still apply.
In a move to decongest Mombasa, the agencies announced that all long-stay containerized cargo will be transferred to inland depots for faster processing.
Cargo meant for Mombasa will be moved to Container Freight Stations (CFSs) while consignments bound for Nairobi and other upcountry towns will be railed to the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD). Goods destined for Uganda and other regional markets will be cleared at the Naivasha Inland Container Depot (NICD).
To ensure accountability, KRA will identify all cargo that qualifies for auction and sustain the gazettement of the consignments.
“KRA will determine all cargo qualifying for auction and sustain gazettement of the consignments for importers to clear, failure to which, the cargo shall be auctioned,” the statement added.
The agencies also confirmed that cargo approved for destruction will be moved to licensed disposal sites, and that all goods under the Single Customs Territory (SCT) regime will be exempted from electronic seal arming, except for those flagged through risk assessment.
The joint initiative signals a renewed commitment by the two institutions to make Mombasa Port more efficient, reduce cargo dwell time, and maintain its status as one of Africa’s most important maritime trade hubs.
