VIRTUAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LEADERSHIP; ADMNISTRATIVE HEADS AND ALL STAFF IN THE MINSTRY OF ROADS AND TRANSPORT

The Principal Secretary in the State Department for Transport, Mr. Mohamed Daghar, on Thursday led Board Members of Agencies under Transport and Staff in a virtual engagement with the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Mr. Felix Koskei. Also attending the meeting were Board members and Staff from the State Department for Roads.

PS Daghar disclosed that significant strides had been made in strengthening Kenya’s position as a regional transport and logistics hub. These include the ongoing development of the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha to Kisumu and Malaba, launched in March 2026, the expansion and modernisation of MGR and commuter rail services including, Nairobi-Ruiru-Thika line; Nairobi – Kikuyu – Limuru; the new Riruta- Ngong- Kiserian - Rongai line; the Miritini SGR Station to Mombasa CBD Line; and the Voi-Taveta MGR line which was launched recently.

The PS said that to optimise the use of the Inland Container Depots, the Government has invested in additional SGR and MGR rolling stock to facilitate movement of Cargo including perishable goods as well as enhancing efficiency and decongesting the port of Mombasa.

PS Daghar further revealed that the modernisation of the port of Mombasa has enabled handling of more than 45 million Metric tons in 2025 from 40million metric tons in 2024 recording a 10% increase. At the same time, the port recorded a through put of over 2.11million TEUs in 2025 against 2million in 2024 translating into a growth of 5.5%. The Construction of the first berth at the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone, which is expected to be completed by May 2028 has already started.

The PS said that the Port of Lamu is now actively handling trans-shipment business in East Africa and positioning itself as a strategic trans-shipment port attracting major shipping lines. The Port has experienced a surge in activity in 2026, with tripled vessel traffic since early 2025 and targets to handle 1.2 million TEUs by 2027.

The government has also embarked on development of the LAPSSET Transit and Transport Corridor, which comprises of the 500-metre corridor to accommodate the core transport infrastructure including Railway, Highway, Pipeline and Fibre Optic Cable and other Utilities.

Mr. Daghar said that the corridor includes 5km of commercial and logistics hubs on either side of the Corridor whose development will be actualised in an integrated and co-ordinated approach to achieve sustainability, optimality and viability under an Integrated Economic Corridor Development Model. The Government is further committed to continuously strengthening, developing and modernizing the Ports of Mombasa, Lamu and the inland waterways Infrastructure.