Mohammed Hersi . A hotelier passionate about Tourism & Governance in Africa

Is it about time we considered an expat to be the MD / CEO of Kenya Ports Authority.

Many good Kenyans have had their careers ruined trying to go run the port of Mombasa . It’s a minefield from both national and the county governments. Now that we have so many things happening at the port with economic zones , Lamu port , Shimoni port, inland ports and revival of Kisumu port a non partisan futuristic visionary CEO is who need.

We need a Michael Joseph like who helped set up Safaricom to be what it is today and of course Mpesa thinking out of the box in fact throw away the box. Kenya posts since independence only managed to connect 350,000 fixed lines where half of those lines did not even work.

Brian Davies another expat transformed our national carrier KQ to a serious airline from ” a near matatu like culture ” before one of our own sent it back to the rat hole.

It’s about time we graduated from small think where MPs and local leadership are chasing petty tenders to supply ABC or fix a washroom here or there or how many casual employees slot you can get. Djibouti. Dar & Bagamoyo. Durban even Asmara are all up even Berbera are all fighting for space. Djibouti are positioning themselves as the reception to Africa connecting Asia to Africa and also as you head to Europe via the Suez Canal. Guys are thinking big really BIG.

We ain’t thinking big on how to make port of Mombasa a centre of excellence through Bandari college. All talk is about deals and who is holding the knife to cut the ever small cake.

Well it all boils down to how hungry we are to see Singapore or Rotterdam in Mombasa port . Over to you my bro Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen .

As always I choose to remain an optimist

Mohammed Hersi
Mombasa