President William Ruto yesterday said his government has no intention to privatise Mombasa and Lamu ports but a concession plan would be undertaken to make the facility competitive.
Speaking at Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa during an inter-denominational prayer service, Ruto said the State is in control of the ports and no individual will be left to run the entities.
“We have agreed with Coast leaders that Mombasa and Lamu ports matter, that there is no port that will be privatised. I promised to return port operations from Nairobi and Naivasha to Mombasa and that was the first job I did,” said Ruto.
He, however, clarified that there is a need to have a port development plan that involves concessions to investors so as to make the facility more competitive.
The President was responding to Coast region leaders who complained that they were being sidelined on port affairs.
“But returning port operations alone is not enough. We need a whole port development plan, and that’s why we have announced how we will have a concession plan. We have announced how we will involve our port with special economic zones,” said Ruto.
