The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in collaboration with Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) have launched two newly fitted, and one mobile cargo scanners in a bid to quell illegal transportation of cargo at the Kenya’s main port of Mombasa.
This brings to 4 the number of scanners that have been installed at the Kilindini port.
KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini said the new scanners will now be able to scan at least 750 containers a day up from from 500 containers it used to before.
“We will be able to scan all cargo of interest from a risk management perspective,to 30% of all cargo meant for home use. Our focus mainly being on imports as well as exports indentified as risky”, said Njiraini.
Njiraini was addressing journalists, at The Kenya ports Authority Mombasa, where he said that KRA was in the process of establishing a centralized command centre in Nairobi Embakasi which will provide a complete linkage between all KRA cargo scanners country wide.
“With monitoring and decision making centralized at the command centre in Nairobi, the integration is going hand in hand with the newly acquired scanners launched at KPA”, he said.
The commissioner general pointed out that, the Chinese government would in the near future donate 10 smaller scanners for the use in baggage screening at the airport.
“We expect to have this equipment delivered and installed within the end of this year, a fact which will dramatically help in improving customer facilitation at our airport terminals”, he said.
He pointed out that the utilization of the scanners constituted a key step, in continuing the quest to eliminate processes that encouraged direct contact between the KRA staff and customers.
He additionally Njiraini said KRA was in the process of rolling out the integrated customs management system (icms) that will replace the Simba system.
“The icms besides improving system functionality and security will constitute features including valuation bench marking, dynamic risk profiling and customer channeling as well as automated customs tariff database among others”, he said.
The integration will provide valuable data, about importer activities for subsequent compliance follow up by domestic taxes team.