Mwinyi lashes out at Zanzibar Airport, Port inefficiency claims 

Unguja, Zanzibar. 

Zanzibar President Hussein Mwinyi lashed out at the Opposition ACT Wazalendo, saying that the claims it raised about inefficiency in three areas within his Government were only meant to mislead the public

ACT-Wazalendo made the accusations on Sunday, February 26, through its leader, Zitto Kabwe, who called for the dissolution of the board of directors and management of the port of Malindi for failing to properly manage the area that he described as critical pillar of Zanzibar’s economy.

Mr Kabwe who was speaking at rally in Numgwi also asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to conduct a special audit of the investment in the Amani Abeid Karume airport, where a Dubai based company Dnata has been given exclusive rights to manage Terminal 3 building.

Speaking at a news conference at State House, Zanzibar,  Dr Mwinyi said it is difficult to dissolve the board of the port because it has not even been on the job for a month, therefore, its performance cannot not be evaluated.

He, however, said that the problem of the Malindi Port is a shortage of jetties, causing congestions of ships waiting to offload cargo, but explained that the Government has put in place measures to reduce the waiting time.  

“If you have one jetty while there are 10 ships, the other ships must wait, that’s what happens, a ship loads cargo and offloading takes 5 to 11 days, which means if there are 10 ships, the last one will sail off after 50 to 70 days,” said Dr Mwinyi.

He said Zanzibar now requires a bigger port that will have more jetties, explaining that is what his Government is going to do with its plan to build the Mangapwani port.  However, the Mangapwani Port plans are steeped in their own challenges.

Dr Mwinyi said the local ground handling companies ZAT and Transworld had operated the airport for 25 years, but the Government got nothing other than losses.

Dr Mwinyi said when he took office, the salaries of the airport’s executives were coming from the Treasury, but added that since Dnata was contracted the airport’s fortunes have improved tremendously resulting in Sh8 billion revenue in the quarter that ended in December.

The two ground handlers currently employ close to 500 employees in different capacities.

In a communication that The Citizen has independently verified, one international airline’s executive confessed that they had been forced against their wish.  They are not alone.

With the terminations taking effect after a recent reminder that followed the September 14 notice, ZAT is left with two international airlines (Oman Air and Ethiopian Airlines) whereas Transworld has KLM and Air France on its books.

The four airlines have refused to sign with ZAA’s preferred ground handler and are ready to continue being served by ZAT and Transworld.

Last month, Transworld Aviation Limited filed a petition at the High Court of Tanzania, challenging the exclusive rights granted to Dnata which they say is contrary to the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority laws.

In July, 2022, President Hussein Mwinyi defended the decision to award Dubai National Air Travel Agency (Dnata) a contract to operate ground handling services at the Abeid Amani Karume International Airport Terminal 3, saying that all the due processes were followed.  This will likely need to be tested by a court of law.

In November 2021, Dnata signed a contract with authorities in Zanzibar to provide ground handling services at newly built Terminal 3 at the Abeid Amani Kurume International Airport.

As part of the contract, two other Emirates’ subsidiaries, Emirates Leisure Retail and MMI will operate all 13 retailers and two lounges in the terminal. The retailers include restaurant, duty free and commercial outlets.