KPA managing director Captain William Ruto disembarks from the MT Sea Wolf at the Kipevu Oil Terminal 2 on Tuesday / BRIAN OTIENOHuman rights activists in Mombasa now want police to probe some of the previous beneficiaries of big deals at the Kenya Ports Authority.
They have threatened to expose some of them saying they are currently trying to undermine the current leadership of the authority.
The activists on Wednesday told the Star some of them, who are known tycoons had captured the port and would determine what tenders they got and what tenders went to others.
Now, the activists said, they are now doing all they can to have incumbent KPA boss Captain William Ruto out of office.
“One of them is a tycoon who feels he has been the hardest hit by the strictness at the Mombasa port. He is part of the big cartels at the port. He is bitter because once Captain Ruto came in, he dismantled their illegal operations and now they are doing all they can to fight back.
“That is why you are seeing all these court cases against a hardworking and performing managing director,” Francis Auma, a veteran rights activist at the Coast said.
Auma said soon they publicly name and shame the cartel bosses and the rings they run.
“This particular one is pushing for a particular tender and sees Captain Ruto as the stumbling block. We want the DCI and the EACC to take a keen interest in this one. We will be in their offices to share more that we have on him,” Auma said.
He said the tycoon has been using young people from the Bunge la Wananchi in Nairobi and Mombasa to file flimsy court cases just to derail the MD, who he described as a very strict and no-nonsense person.
His sentiments were echoed by Haki Kenya Organization executive director Michael Nato said Captain Ruto has demonstrated that he embraces the open-door policy where his office can be accessed by anybody and that anybody can win a tender at KPA.
He said the law provides for certain percentage (30 per cent) of the tenders at any government agency to go to women, youth and persons with disabilities.
“That has been achieved. Those are the testimonies we are getting after we, as an organization, did our social accountability and engaged those who have interacted with the KPA,” Nato said.
He said the social accountability report they have done indicates some young formed groups where they won certain tenders albeit of small value.
He said the KPA’s CSR activities have increased since Captain Ruto took over, meaning many lives have been positively been impacted during his tenure.
Some of the CSR activities undertaken by KPA include in environmental issues, sports, agriculture, fiscal issues, fisheries, among others.
“He even supports our Muslim brothers during Ramadhan. So, when it comes to corporate heads, he stands out as a titan. That is why we have to protect such characters from those who want to bring them down so they can have their crooked ways,” Nato said.
Nato said youth, women and PWD groups have also been benefitting from cleaning tenders at the port where some of the debris, which have monetary value, help those who do the cleaning because they can be sold.
“We know there is this tycoon who is fighting Captain Ruto because he has refused to play ball. Now he wants to get back at the captain,” Nato said.
Auma and Nato said since Captain Ruto took over, the Mombasa port has been breaking record after record, ensuring the port rakes in more revenues and bringing in more clients,
Just on Tuesday, the Rwandan government had their maiden petroleum cargo, 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel and petrol, shipped through the Mombasa port via MT Sea Wolf.
The vessel docked at the Mombasa port on Tuesday at 6am and discharged the 40,000 metric tonnes of fuel for onward transmission to Rwanda via the Kenya Pipeline Company network of pipes.
This is after both the Kenyan and Rwandan governments inked a cooperation deal on June 29.
Auma and Nato said the KPA Corporate Social Responsibility projects across the country have also benefited millions if Kenyans in one way or the other.
“Production has improved, morale of the employees is at an all-time high, and even the young people, women and persons living with disabilities are happy they are at least getting tenders, something that was hard to come by in the past,” Nato said.
