MV Pamba’s return to boost Uganda’s water business, says transport minister

Officials at the Ministry of Works and transport have said the return of MV Pamba vessel after 16-year suspension will help boost Uganda’s capacity to handle business on the lake, making it possible for the country to position itself as a regional hub for cargo.

The state minister for works in charge of transport, Fred Byamukama said it will also increase the country’s competitive advantage in regional trade, scale-up exports through Kenya and Tanzania to the wider world and increase the stock (in value) of national assets.

“If the traders and manufacturers can take advantage of what we have, we shall see the factors of production adjust because the cost of importing raw materials will go down significantly. We shall also see a spike in exports, because demand for Ugandan goods from the wider world will increase,” Mr Byamukama said.

The minister said discussions to increase the number of vessels on the lake were on going because it will help reduce the cost of business and increase the country’s attractiveness and competitiveness on the global market.

 At $5 million (Shs17.6 billion), the 34-year-old ship will soon return in the lake to sail between Mwanza on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria, and Kisumu on the north eastern side.

The unique repairs on MV Pamba are being done by Mango Tree, a Chinese engineering group which says they are about 95 percent complete.

The acting managing director of Uganda Railways Corporation (URC), Mr Stephen Wakasenza, said Pamba’s system has been redesigned from manual to digital to improve its efficiency and minimise accident risks.

“This will be the first ship to be operated by a smaller crew because everything can be remotely monitored from the cockpit and it will also help us to reduces on expenses we have been spending on crew,” he said.