Economy

State to acquire 11,000 acres of land for new rail

rail

A sample of the standard gauge railway line that will be built from Mombasa to Nairobi. Photo/FILE

About 11,000 acres of land will be compulsorily acquired at a cost of Sh9 billion to pave way for construction of the new multi-billion-dollar railway linking Mombasa to Nairobi.

The National Land Commission will shepherd the mega land purchase in six counties including Taita Taveta, Kwale and Makueni, with Kenya Wildlife Service set lose hundreds of acres.

The construction of the new standard gauge railway, which will supplement a slower narrow gauge network that is operated by Rift Valley Railways, will start in October and run for 42 months.

About 60 per cent of the land will be acquired by August and the remaining part in December, placing billions of shillings in the hands of private investors.

“The process of compulsory acquisition of 11,000 acres of land for the railway project has begun with support from the National Land Commission,” Transport principal secretary Nduva Muli told a workshop arranged to inform land owners on the acquisition in Mombasa.

“Sh9 billion has been made available by the National Government for the compensation of private land.”

READ: Commission targets KWS land for new railway line

This will be one of the biggest government-led land deals. Kenya Railways Corporation managing director Atanas Maina said the corporation had gazzetted 56 acres of its land for the railway project and another 76 acres are to be set aside for the new rail.

“The mapping and survey work for the land to be compulsory acquired for the construction of the railway has been done,” he said.

“We are now in the process of identifying the private land owners as well as holding discussions with the Kenya Wildlife Service over 130km of wildlife conservation land,” he explained.

China Road and Bridge Corporation will construct the initial Kenyan leg of the new line, despite widespread criticism that there was no competitive tendering for the work.

On May 11, East African leaders and China formally signed agreements for the new rail. China has offered a $1.6 billion commercial loan and a $1.63 billion concessional facility for the Mombasa-Nairobi section.

The Transport ministry says the railway will cut freight costs to Sh7 a metric tonne per km from the current Sh17.