The Senate Committee on Trade has called for the expansion of the Busia One-Stop-Border Post (OSBP), to help reduce congestion and promote cross border trade.
Speaking after visiting the OSBP, Wednesday, senators led by Kwale Senator, Issa Boy Juma, said the visit has provided an insight of the challenges experienced at the border post.
“We have met stakeholders and the users of the border point and they are complaining of bad roads, and being harassed from our neighbor’s side. We cannot have better business here when we have a shallow road, we must expand it. The long queues experienced here slows down business.”
Juma underscored the need to have a modern parking yard that will accommodate more trailers, compared to the one available which has a capacity of only 40 trucks.
“We have been told by KRA that the land is available. We are going to ensure that a modern yard has been constructed to provide a better parking facility. We have a department that looks at the health issues at the border point, but we are also going to look at how we can better the departments, so that the counties at the borders across the country are not adversely affected during a pandemic outbreak,” he said.
Uasin Gishu County Senator, Jackson Mandago, challenged the County Government to ensure they build facilities that will help them generate revenue from the border businesses.
“The County Government of Busia, should ensure they finish the trailer park, so that they can generate their own revenue. We should remember that the business at the border counties mostly involves many countries. We have the East African system and agreement on taxes that we should abide by as a nation. We cannot go beyond what we should collect. Our country is the biggest beneficiary from the businesses conducted through this border,” he said.
Nandi Senator, Samson Kiprotich Cherargey, said the infrastructure at the border point needs to be improved for better service delivery.
“The concerns we have witnessed include, a parking area which has a capacity of only 40 trucks. The waiting time for clearance is 30 minutes, something that should not be the case in this era. We have more than 22 agencies and this has caused delays in clearance and this is impeding free trade in Africa. We also hope there will be improvement in disease surveillance and control,” he said.
Cherargey further said the country should adopt Artificial Intelligence to help solve some of the challenges experienced at the border.
“We have to ensure that both sides embrace AI in terms of scanning so as to avoid the long queues that are experienced due to down time of the scanner from either side. We also need to expand the parking lot and even build other facilities where the truck drivers can rest when they arrive here,” he said.
The Senator disclosed that the trailers are being charged the parking fees, even as the County government holds the stand that they do not collect.
“I have a copy that the trucks are paying some money to the County government, some amounting to Sh 1,500, but the County government told the PAC committee that they are not collecting charges. We need to harmonize and ensure all border points, including Mulwanda are operationalized, to ease the clearance and improve efficiency,” he said.
Joseph Okhanga, the Chairman, Clearing and Forwarding, Busia Kenya, said that the space at the customs needs to be addressed urgently.
“We need an immediate expansion of the customs, so that we can have enough space. All vehicles that get in and out of our country, are being charged by the County government. We are requesting that the trailer park constructed by the County government should be completed, so that they can be able to collect more revenue,” he said.
The Senators are in Busia for one week beginning Monday, where they are conducting their plenary meetings, as they visit various government projects through the program dubbed ‘Senate Mashinani.’
By Salome Alwanda
