Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Uganda's Works and Transport Minister Gen Edward Katumba-Wamala, shake hands after signing a Seamless Rail Transport Agreement between Kenya and Uganda on July 28, 2023. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NMG
Kenya and Uganda have revived the plans to build a standard gauge railway between them, signalling renewed efforts to upgrade infrastructure along the Northern Corridor for better trade.
But the joint declaration issued on Friday is dependent on how soon a financier comes on board. It is lack of funding that killed the earlier plans, rendering the SGR the ‘railway to nowhere.’
This time, ministers in charge of transport from both sides said they are renewing a joint search for funds, which could include loans or public-private partnerships.
If the plan remains on course, the contractor should be on site from December to extend the line from Naivasha to Kampala and later to Uganda’s frontier towns with Rwanda and South Sudan.
The two governments signed the deal to finalise joint resource mobilisation in the next four months to fund the modern railway line from Naivasha to Malaba to Kampala and from Kampala to Kasese-Mpondwe with a branch line from Bihanga to Mirama Hills.
Once completed, goods moving from Mombasa to the Uganda border with Rwanda and South Sudan will be ferried on SGR.
The two governments on Friday signed a deal which will also increase the usage of rail to haul Uganda cargo using SGR from Mombasa to Naivasha and on the meter gauge line from Naivasha to Malaba within months.
Uganda Transport Minister Katumba Wamala and his Kenyan counterpart Kipchumba Murkomen signed the agreement.
“The commercial contracts for Naivasha-Kisumu and Kisumu-Malaba SGR section in Kenya have been signed while the commercial contract for Malaba-Kampala SGR section in Uganda will be signed soon," they said.
