Likoni MP welcomes new KPA ferry plan

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Likoni MP Ms Mishi Mboko has welcomed the Kenya Ports Authority’s (KPA) new Traffic Circulation Management Plan for the Likoni ferry, calling it “long overdue”.

She says earlier tragedies at the crossing could have been avoided if such upgrades had been in place.

Speaking during a stakeholders’ forum at Sapphire Hotel in Mombasa, Ms Mboko said the plan was a crucial step in addressing decades of congestion, safety risks, and disorder at the ferry channel. 

“If we had this before, we wouldn’t have faced past safety breaches,” she said.

The legislator has consistently pressed the government on the matter. 

In Parliament, she has demanded answers from the Ministry of Transport on stalled upgrades, unsafe ramps, unreliable ferries, and the lack of dignified infrastructure for the 400,000 people and 6,000 vehicles that use the crossing daily.

Transport Cabinet Secretary Mr Davis Chirchir, responding to her concerns in the House earlier this year, admitted that ferry services had been overstretched but pointed to ongoing measures. 

He cited the opening of the Dongo Kundu bypass, procurement of a new Sh3 billion ferry through Kenya Shipyard Ltd, and long-term projects such as the Likoni aerial cable car and Mombasa Gate Bridge as part of the solution.

The KPA’s new circulation plan is designed to deliver immediate relief. 

It includes expanded passenger bays, widened landing ramps, and formalised bus terminals. 

New pedestrian skybridges and safer waiting sheds will improve safety, while over 900 stalls are planned for informal traders to integrate economic activity into the ferry ecosystem.

KPA Managing Director Capt. William K. Ruto, in a speech delivered on his behalf by GM Ferry Services Mr Bakari Gowa, said the project would “restore dignity to daily movement” and rests on five pillars of connectivity: spatial, functional, environmental, social, and cultural.

Mombasa County Commissioner Mr Mohamed Noor Hassan also praised the design for its inclusivity, noting clear segregation of pedestrian and vehicle movement and facilities for persons with disabilities.

Construction is expected to begin next month on the Likoni mainland side and will run for 24 months. 

KPA has promised to convene a larger baraza-style forum in the coming weeks to capture the views of all ferry users.