A company associated with Mombasa governor Ali Hassan Joho, Portside Freight Terminal Limited, is under probe following the death of two workers less than two months ago.
The two died after a silo bin fell on them, injuring six others.
The government withdrew its operators licence, and reports indicate the firm’s operations have since been suspended in Shed Number 7 and 8 in Mombasa Port.
The parliamentary committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing has already started investigations into the matter, being among the issues raised by Dock Workers Union (DWU) .
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The Dock workers want the legislators to investigate Portside Freight Terminal Limited’s relationship with the Kenya Port Authority (KPA) with p[possible consequences of banning it from operating in the port.
DWU suspects that KPA could have issued another licence to Portside Freight Terminal Limited to handle bulk cargo grain at the port.
“It has come to our attention that KPA in July 2020, issued a terms of reference for a technical committee to review as a matter of priority the application by Portside Freight Terminal Limited to be granted a licence for a grain bulk handling facility at the port of Mombasa,” says DWU’s Simon Sang.
The Parliamentary committee has already written to the Ministry of Transport principal secretary Solomon Kitungu demanding a comprehensive response to allegations raised by DWU by October 9.
“In line with the oversight role, the committee has received a letter from the Dock Workers Union. The union submitted, that they have, on various occasions, made complaints against Portside Freight Terminal Limited activities at the port of Mombasa, to the office of the managing director of the Kenya Ports Authority, and no action has so far been taken,” the letter reads in part.
The letter has been copied to Transport CS James Macharia and KPA acting managing director Rashid Salim.
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