Uganda and Kenya governments have agreed to enhance trade on Lake Victoria; a move that will see Uganda use the Lake to transport its oil imports from Kenya.
This followed a meeting in Kisumu between Uganda National Resistance Movement (NRM) vice chairman Eastern Region Captain, Mike Mukula, President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.
Addressing the press in Busia on Sunday, 20 January 2019, after a courtesy call to Busia Governor, Sospeter Ojaamong, at his Okilidu home, Captain Mukula said Uganda is moving towards reviving transport and trade on Lake Victoria, which hit a snag in 2005 after an accident in which two Ugandan ships collided while transporting goods to and from Tanzania.
“Uganda is concerned that Lake Victoria which is the largest Lake in Africa has remained unutilized for many years, thus the need by the two countries to bring it back to life,” he said.
Captain Mukula said they agreed to expand trade between the two sister states so that the former railway facilities, now under Kenya and Uganda Railways, can be utilized to transport cargo from Mombasa Port Bell and beyond and movement of people, which is faster, be enhanced between Kisumu and Uganda.
“There are other opportunities for services and goods including beans, maize, fertilizer, fruits and many others which Kenya and Uganda can trade in,” he said in a statement issued in Nairobi on Monday, 21 January 2019.
Captain Mukula said the Uganda government is building the largest fuel storage in terms of throughput of 70 million litres at Kauko on the shores of Lake Victoria.
One ship has a capacity of 4.8m litres of fuel; Uganda consumes an average of 5m litres.
– APA
