Maasai Mara airstrip set to undergo Sh4.7bn upgrade

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) plans to start the rehabilitation of Angama (Olkurruk) Airstrip situated in the western part of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve.

The construction works, to be done in three phases, will cost the aviation agency about Sh4.7 billion. The rehabilitation of the airstrip will be done by Ongata Works Limited.

Part of the rehabilitation works involves expansion of the existing 1260m long runway and increasing the width from 18m to 23m. Runway edge markers will also be repainted and and roads expanded.

KAA Managing Director Alex Gitari said the rehabilitation of the existing facility will promote aviation safety, security and generate revenue for the agency.

“The airport will open up the Mara Tourism Circuit and hence facilitate the implementation of the Maasai Mara Strategy. The construction will reduce the environmental impact on off road driving towards the Mara hence low negative impact on forest, wildlife areas and wetlands,” said Mr Gitari.

Maasai Mara adjoins the Serengeti National Park of Tanzania, from where millions of wildlife travel to Maasai Mara.

The migration is one of the biggest wildlife events on earth and thousands of people g visit to see it.

Every year over 300,000 tourists visit the Mara to witness migration of the wildebeest.

“The expansion comes with the benefit of controlling Carbon emission due to reduced motor vehicles accessing the region,” he said.

“The Maasai Mara Reserve is one of the most used reserves in Kenya for off-road driving.”

The average flying distance from Angama Mara Airstrip to Nairobi via Wilson Airport or JKIA is about 200 km and will take around one hour.

Reduction of carbon footprint within the Maasai Mara drive as the aircraft will carry many passengers and manage the number of vehicles driving across the country to Mara.

The Airstrip is planned to be upgraded to accommodate larger aircrafts and International flights in the long run.

The biggest aircraft operating at the Airstrip is a Bombardier Dash 8-106, with a 37 passenger seat capacity.

Proposed critical aircraft as Airbus A320, with 170-180 passenger capacity by the end of Phase III.

Kenya’s imports from Tanzania have exceeded its exports to the East African Community(EAC) partner state for the first time in decades, signalling improved trade flows under President Samia Suluhu’s administration.

Fresh data by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows that Kenya’s imports from Tanzania grew nearly three-quarters in the six months to June 2021 compared with a year earlier—coinciding with the thawing of trade ties between the two nations.

The value of goods ordered from Tanzania — including cereals, wood, and edible vegetables — hit a high of Sh18.29 billion in the review period, according to data from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) published by the CBK.

The 70.06 percent surge in goods bought from Tanzania outpaced that of exports, which grew at a five-year high, resulting in a rare trade deficit of Sh1.02 billion.

The CBK data shows exports to Tanzania — including pharmaceutical products, plastics, iron, and steel — bumped 21.39 percent to Sh17.27 billion, the highest since the first half of 2016.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Tanzanian counterpart, Ms Suluhu, early May pledged to end persistent strained trade relations between the two largest economies in the six-nation EAC bloc which have, for years, hindered the smooth flow of goods and services.

The Tanzanian president’s visit to Nairobi — which, among others, saw the two countries sign a deal to build a gas pipeline from Dar es Salaam to Mombasa — touched off a series of joint trade meetings aimed at flattening barriers to the flow of goods.

Trade minister Betty Maina and her Tanzanian counterpart, Kitila Mkumbo, led delegations to a four-day meeting in Arusha — the headquarters of the EAC — weeks after the two presidents met in Nairobi.

This was followed by a three-day investment forum of manufacturers from both countries in Dar es Salaam from July 7 where the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and the Confederation of Tanzania Industries resolved to jointly lobby authorities to end crippling non-tariff barriers.

“Kenya and Tanzania have the capability and capacity to add value to the wide array of resources that both countries have for export markets,” KAM chairperson Mucai Kunyiha told the forum in Dar es Salaam.

“However, achieving this is hindered every time the business community encounters impediments to trade, consequently impacting the benefits of trade to the entire [EAC] region.”

Kenyan manufacturers had in recent years protested “discriminative” duties and non-tariff barriers such as double inspection of goods for standards by Tanzania which had made supplies such as meat, milk, and related products to the neighbouring country uncompetitive.

The protectionist fees, Kenyan manufacturers argued, was against the EAC Common Market Protocol, which requires member states to open up borders to facilitate free movement of goods, labour, services as well as capital.

Less than two months to Ms Suluhu’s visit, Kenya had banned maize imports from Tanzania and Uganda, citing a higher level of aflatoxin than the required minimum of 10 parts per billion and sparking protest from Dar es Salaam and Kampala.

The lifting of the ban saw maize imports from Tanzania shoot nearly six and a half times to 118,329 90kg bags in May from 16,137 90kg bags a month earlier, the Agriculture ministry says.

• Imported vehicles continue to pile up, causing congestion in Mombasa depots due to number plates shortage.
• The units which are now adding up to more than 1,000 have caused huge losses to car importers who are being forced to pay storage charges as the Kenya Revenue Authority maintains only duly registered cars with number plates will be released.

A shortage of vehicle number plates has hit the Kenyan market, causing a backlog in the clearance of used cars at the Mombasa port over the past month.

More than 7,000 imported second-hand vehicles are lying at container freight stations (CFS) in Mombasa, and owners are being charged daily storage fees for delayed clearance.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) attributed the shortage of the plates to lack of raw materials for production amid an increase in demand for car registration.

Kenya car number plates are manufactured at Kamiti Maximum Prison.

“NTSA is currently experiencing delays in production and supply of number plates and logbooks from our suppliers, the State Department of Correctional Services (SDCS) and the Government Printer respectively,” NTSA Director General George Njao said in a notice to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

The law requires the prisons department to make the plates. It is mandatory for imported second-hand vehicles to be fitted with number plates before leaving the port.

The rule does not affect new vehicles imported by franchise holders who offload and bond the units in customs warehouses awaiting sale. The plates restrictions on second hand clothes is meant to check tax evasion by unscrupulous traders through dumping in the local market.

Most vehicles imported since early July have not been released due to failure by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to supply number plates for imported vehicles.

With at least three ships scheduled to dock at the Port of Mombasa in the next few days, the situation might worsen if the problem is not resolved with traders accusing NTSA of being reluctant in resolving the matter.

The Kenya International Freight Warehousing Association chairperson Roy Mwanthi said they are incurring huge losses despite paying all port charges.

“There is congestion in different car depots in Mombasa despite clearing with KRA but the vehicles cannot be released without number plates. This has resulted in increasing cost to importers as they are incurring demurrages every day,” said Mr Mwanthi.

“A number of importers are stranded and with more vehicles being imported at the moment, this will result in huge loss to dealers and individual importers.”

Car Importers Association of Kenya (CIAK) Chairman Peter Otieno said apart from inadequate plates, there has been a system failure as the KRA platform is not reflected.

“Most of the vehicles imported since July which tally close to 7,000 have not been released. The problem started about a month ago and with more vehicles being imported this time. We are having a serious issue. We are also having issues where a car is cleared by NTSA but at the KRA system, it is not reflecting it,” said Mr Otieno.

He noted that apart from plates, the importers are having challenges in getting stickers and they have to wait for about a week to get one.