Kenya pledges SGR line to Malaba border point
Presidential. Left to right: Presidents Museveni of Uganda, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya during the 14th Summit on the Northern Corridor Integration Project in Nairobi yesterday. COURTESY PHOTO.
What you need to know:
- What the leaders agreed to. The leaders chiefly received updates on setting up a joint commodities exchange, considered and adopted the Accession Treaty to the Mutual Defence Pact, and further agreed to finalise an agreement on the establishment of a Centralised Aeronautical Database for the Northern Corridor Airspace bloc.
Kampala. Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday assured Uganda of his country’s willingness to extend the multi-billion Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line further to the Malaba border point in line with the earlier Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) vision.
The NCIP, popularly known as the Coalition of the Willing, is a loose outfit of the East African Community comprising of mainly Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan, to fast-track integration through infrastructure projects. Ethiopia, Tanzania and Burundi attended yesterday’s 14th NCIP heads of state summit as observers.
The recently commissioned SGR line from Mombasa port to Nairobi was a major talking point at yesterday’s summit. It was also a pointer to Kenya’s commitment and a wakeup call for Uganda in light of the chaos bedeviling its project.
“The summit lauded the completion and commissioning of Mombasa-Nairobi section of the SGR in 2017, which is already transporting increasing number of passengers and cargo,” a joint communique issued by the leaders, reads in part.
Kenya is now constructing a 120km line from Nairobi to Naivasha at a cost of $1.7b (Shs6 trillion) to be followed by the 266km line from Naivasha to Kisumu port at a cost of $3.6b (Shs13 trillion), while the 107km line connecting to Malaba will cost $1.7b (Shs6 trillion).
On the other hand, Uganda’s SGR project is enmeshed in a wave of blackmail and infighting to manage its lucrative tender. The project coordinator, Mr Kasingye Kyamugambi, was relieved of his duties less than a fortnight ago, and Works minister Monica Azuba has since brought back retired ministry of Works chief civil engineer, Mr Perez Wamburu, to take charge.
Mr Wamburu was part of the former Electoral Commission chairman Badru Kiggundu led-committee that reported that Uganda’s project was inflated by $670m, and kicked up a storm.
Yesterday’s summit was attended by President Museveni, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, while South Sudan’s Salva Kiir was represented by special envoy Aggrey Tisa Sabuni.
The leaders, according to the communique, reaffirmed their commitment to advancing regional integration while underscoring the importance of accelerating socio-economic transformation, industrialisation and employment creation.
Activities
What the leaders agreed to. The leaders chiefly received updates on setting up a joint commodities exchange, considered and adopted the Accession Treaty to the Mutual Defence Pact, and further agreed to finalise an agreement on the establishment of a Centralised Aeronautical Database for the Northern Corridor Airspace bloc.
