Chaos and criminality characterise the Kasumbalesa border between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia where construction work on a truck yard in the DRC has triggered massive congestion. According to FTW sources, since work on the yard started a few weeks ago, DRC customs authorities have had to reduce the daily number of trucks allowed to enter the country from 500 to 200. The resulting build-up at Whiskey Check Point north of Kasumbalesa has triggered a back-up of trucks waiting on the Zambian side with sources saying queues are snaking all the way down south through Chililabombwe to Chingola and beyond, more than 45km from the border. One Zambia-based transporter, who requested anonymity fearing a backlash from authorities, said he’d seen truck queues of 60km and longer. Mike Fitzmaurice, CEO of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), said thankfully since Saturday DRC authorities had started letting more trucks through, bringing some relief to the mounting chaos. Customs manager Babadinga Beya from Chasubles Border Post, the first transit point in Kasumbalesa town before trucks are sent to clear at Whiskey, has since said that transporters can expect congestion to continue into the new year as the new yard is only expected to be completed in January. In the meantime the congestion in the DRC had created a breeding ground for criminality as scores of drivers carrying dollars to pay clearing fees had been held at gunpoint by soldiers robbing them of FTW6910 FTW4127SD their cash, Fitzmaurice said. On the Zambian side the situation is not much better. “Fields have been cleared on the side of the road for trucks to stand but there are no facilities. No toilets, no water, and no services to sustain drivers. It’s become inhumane.” Commenting on a remark made by a road haulier that they were considering pulling out of the route between Kasumbalesa and the Port of Beira in northern Mozambique, Fitzmaurice said Fesarta was doing the same. “We’re telling transporters not to go to the DRC. The tolls and charges alone are exorbitant. It costs $1700 to get through Kasumbalesa, $900 in Zambia, and $1000 in Zimbabwe. By the time South African and other fees are added up, it costs around $4500 to deliver freight to the DRC. That’s 40% of your costs spent on transport fees.” Seguro Clearing MD Stefan Viljoen said they had turned away four trucks in recent times. “It costs too much and the cons outweigh the pros. It can take up to a week to get a truck through Kasumbalesa and the charges resulting from trucks waiting to get through can run up $6500. It’s simply not profitable anymore.” Our anonymous source also claimed that the truck yard that was being built in the DRC was just another excuse for that country to squeeze additional revenue out of transporters waiting to get goods cleared. Kasumbalesa, ironically, had become the focal point of EU funding aimed at creating a one-stop border zone, PwC transport and logistics director Andrew Shaw said recently. According to reports, DRC authorities have been asked for years to move the check point at Whiskey to Chasubles in a bid to ease congestion through trucks only stopping once. “It’s supposed to be one free-flowing, green zone,” Fitzmaurice said. And yet congestion appears to be grist for the DRC’s customs mill. “There has to be political will to clear up the chaos at Kasumbalesa. But it’s completely lacking because politicians are more interested in their back pockets.”
