Kenya launches regional electronic cargo tracking system

Kenya on Wednesday launched a regional electronic cargo tracking system to monitor transit cargo in real time within its borders.

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Commissioner General John Njiraini told journalists in Nairobi that Nairobi joins Uganda and Rwanda who are already using the system.

The new system represents a key milestone in the drive to cement East Africa cooperation by promoting cross border trade.

The new system replaces the existing Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) where monitoring is done independently through stand-alone platforms.

The initiative will integrate the transit cargo tracking platforms of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda which form the Northern Transport Corridor.

There are currently plans in the offing to rollout the system to South Sudan, and Tanzania and ultimately to destinations out of East African Community bloc especially Democratic Republic of Congo.

Njiraini said that by integrating the transit cargo tracking platforms, the three countries aim to achieve seamless operations across borders.

"The overall aim is to make custom border checks redundant and in addition to eliminate opportunities for cargo diversion that existed due to border changeover processes when each country uses separate cargo tracking systems," he added.

The KRA chief said that by having customs administrations systems in three countries tracking the same cargo on the same platform, it eliminates the opportunity for collusion between importers and custom officials in a bid to evade taxes.

The taxman noted that cargo tracking is necessitated by the fact that transit cargo forms 40 percent of cargo cleared from the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

"As a result we have had a big challenge of transit cargo not getting to the final destination due to diversion into Kenya," he added. Enditem