Kenya and Uganda have agreed to tear down the trade barriers that have strained commerce between them — from tariffs and excise duties to long lines of trucks choking the main border crossings.
The move follows a directive issued in July by Presidents Yoweri Museveni and William Ruto, who met in Nairobi and pressed their trade ministers to “urgently” resolve the bottlenecks.
Uganda’s Trade Minister Wilson Mbadi and Kenya’s Trade CS Lee Kinyanjui met on July 31 in Nairobi. They agreed to swap lists of goods affected by non-tariff barriers. Weeks later, between August 18 and 22, technical teams gathered in Mbale, Uganda, to review the lists and draft proposals.
The problems they set out to solve were familiar ones: congestion at Malaba and Busia, delays caused by weighbridge procedures, and what traders describe as “discriminatory” taxes on goods moving across the borders.
In a joint statement released Saturday, the ministers said border agencies must move fast.
“Ministers directed border agencies to immediately address delays relating to multiple check points,” the statement read. It added that border officials must run 24/7 operations to keep traffic moving.
At Malaba, Uganda committed to fixing problems tied to the weighbridge. Kenya, on its part, pledged to finish the Suam One Stop Border Post and install a scanner at Lwakhakha.
The ministers also ordered congestion at Malaba to be cleared within 24 hours and capped at four kilometers. At Busia, truck queues should not stretch beyond 500 meters, they said.
“Both ministers committed to prioritise and mobilise resources for critical border infrastructure, including road upgrades and bridge construction,” their communiqué added.
Uganda is Kenya’s largest trading partner. In 2024, goods moving to and from Uganda accounted for 65.6 percent of all transit traffic through Mombasa port — up from 62.3 percent in 2023.
Still, Kenya’s exports to Uganda slipped slightly last year, falling to 125.9 billion shillings from 126.3 billion. Imports also dropped, to 37.7 billion shillings from 41.2 billion.
The government survey blamed the decline on reduced sales of cement clinkers and palm oil.
The stakes are high. Mombasa is the main trade lifeline for Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Northern Corridor, stretching 1,700 kilometers from the port to Kampala and beyond, is the region’s busiest trade route.
