President Uhuru Kenyatta merges port, railway and pipeline operations

President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed an executive order merging the operations of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) and the Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC).

The order is set to guide the central management of public port, railway and pipeline services under the Kenya Transport and Logistics Network (KTLN) under the coordination of the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC).

Moreover, the three agencies have been moved to the National Treasury which now becomes their oversight ministry in line with prior recommendations of the Presidential Taskforce on Parastatal Reforms.

Joint operations by the three agencies are set to commence in 30 days following the reconstitution of their boards and internal operations.

The merger will ease logistics by lowering the cost of doing business in the country.

“The new framework also allows for the centralization and coordination of operations without amending existing laws,” said State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena in a statement to newsrooms on Friday.

“The new structure is expected to lead to the lowering of the cost of doing business through the provision of port railway and pipeline infrastructure in a cost effective and efficient manner.”

The ICDC has been put in charge of securing the vision of the joint operations while Treasury has been tasked with strengthening internal capacities to oversee the investment portfolio.

Consequently, the new mandate for the ICDC will lead to a delay in the creation of the Kenya Development Bank (KDB) – an amalgamation of ICDC, IDB Capital and the Tourism Finance Corporation (TFC).