The High Court has allowed a case that could change who controls most of South Sudan’s cargo passing through Mombasa port. This move directly affects the Joho family, who have been handling nearly 80% of this cargo through their company, Autoport Freight Terminals.
South Sudan now wants the responsibility shared among five different companies instead of just two, saying this would make the process more efficient and help reduce the cost of goods in their country.
If this change happens, Autoport could lose a large part of its business, cutting its share to only 20%. This would be a huge financial loss, especially since Mombasa port is a key entry point for goods heading to landlocked countries like South Sudan and Uganda.
On July 17, 2025, Justice Peter Mulwa ruled that the case filed by Compact Freight could move forward and ordered that the Kenya Ports Authority should follow South Sudan’s instructions for now.
This temporary arrangement will stay in place until the court gives more directions on July 21. South Sudan wants its cargo handled as follows: 30% by Compact Freight, 20% by Compact FTZ, 20% by LPC Global, 10% by Precision Container, and only 20% by Autoport.
South Sudan believes this plan will prevent problems like cargo being auctioned off due to delays and will also reduce their trade costs.This is not the first time the issue of cargo handling at Mombasa port has ended up in court.
In 2023, the Kenyan government had tried to assign the job to three different companies, a move that was blocked by the courts in favor of Autoport. At that time, the judges said Autoport was treated unfairly, and their rights were not respected during the decision to suspend them.
However, the latest move is not coming from Kenya, but from South Sudan itself, which makes the case different and more complex.South Sudan has good reasons for wanting change. Though it accounts for only 12.7% of the transit cargo through Mombasa compared to Uganda’s 65.6%, the country depends heavily on the port.
Over the years, it has experienced delays, high charges, and incidents where its cargo was sold off before reaching the country. The new plan to split the work among five firms is meant to solve these problems by increasing competition and improving service.
The Joho family, especially Abu Joho, who is the brother of Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho, has made significant money through their control of this sector. Losing their dominant position could shake up their business empire.
But for South Sudan, this change might be the beginning of better trade management and lower costs for its people.There have also been other cases involving companies linked to the Joho family.
Just this month, the Supreme Court cancelled a Sh5.8 billion grain facility deal at the same port, saying the deal was done without following proper rules. While that case is separate, it shows that more attention is now being paid to how deals at the port are made and who benefits from them.
The next hearing in this latest case is set for July 21, and it will likely set the tone for how cargo will be handled in future.
