East Africa acquired its first one- stop border post last week, with the official opening of an ultramodern border post building at Malaba.

The new facility was launched at a ceremony attended by Transport Assistant Minister Robinson - Githae, Uganda- government officials and representatives of the US Embassy in Nairobi.

Funded by the US government,the building will be used by both the Kenya and Uganda revenue authorities, with Customs officials from both countries working side by side.

The time taken to clear trucks is expected to shorten considerably from the current three-to-five days to a matter of hours.

The second phase will involve upgrading physical facilities such as parking areas, vehicle lanes and inspection areas.

According to a recent study on East Africa, it costs more to transport a tonne of grain from Mombasa to Kampala than from Chicago in the US to Mombasa.

Another survey on movement of traffic along the Northern Corridor found that the major source of; cargo delays are border points between Kenya and the hinterland it serves, which includes Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Southern Sudan and northern Tanzania. Container traffic within the East African region has been growing at around 24 per cent per year, with 75 per cent of it using the Northern Corridor.

This has placed an unbearable burden on the road network between Mombasa, Malaba and Busia and lengthened delivery times.

Delays between Mombasa and the two border posts have been exacerbated by lengthy and unpredictable procedures at weighbridges that often cause delays of between six hours and one day.

Indeed, the efficiency of these weighbridges has proved to be dismally low due to lack of uniform calibration.

The upshot is that goods are always delayed in reaching their destinations, with negative consequences for. businesses, including loss of orders and a higher risk perception.

With clearance expected to gradually fall to international standards of between one and two "days, the risks of trading with the rest of the world will come down for the countries of the region.

During last week's ceremony, Mr Githae hailed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for funding the rehabilitation of the border post building.

He announced that the donor agency was also funding the feasibility of a one-stop border post in Busia.

The assistant minister also revealed that his ministry had' agreed with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to start operating at the port of Mombasa on a 24-hour basis.