Kenyan port backlog eases amid post-election unrest

By Bosire Nyairo

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's port, grappling with severe congestion due to political unrest that halted transport and kept workers at home, is coping with the backlog, port officials said on Thursday.

The port in the Indian Ocean city of Mombasa is the key gateway for hinterland countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and southern Sudan. A post-election crisis in Kenya has blocked imports, especially of fuel, to those nations.

"Work is now going on smoothly as the build-up of cargo has reduced," said Haji Masemo, a top official at the Kenya Ports Authority.

"We now have about 17,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) compared to about 20,000 TEUs last week. Last weekend, we delivered about 2,000 containers."

Masemo said the facility was clearing 500 containers of cargo daily but was experiencing storage problems.

"We have made arrangements to deliver cargo to container freight stations and are calling on people to pick their cargo," he said.

Police in Kenya have had to escort fuel tankers on transit through dangerous sections of the Mombasa-Kisumu highway that is the main supply artery into the neighbouring countries.

Supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who says he was cheated of an election win by President Mwai Kibaki during a December 27 vote, erected roadblocks on that road to flush out the Kikuyu tribesmen of the president.