Kenya has placed cross-border infrastructure, including dual-carriage highways and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) linking Uganda and Kenya, among its key national priorities.
Kenyan President William Ruto, while delivering his State-of-the-Nation address in the National Assembly yesterday, announced that the extension of the SGR from Naivasha Township to the Uganda border at Malaba will commence in January next year.
‘This infrastructure will also include extending the standard gauge railway from Naivasha to Kisumu and eventually to Malaba. And that exercise, ladies and gentlemen, is beginning in January,’ Mr Ruto said.
Uganda has long awaited the extension of the SGR to its border to enable connection to Kampala, a development expected to significantly reduce the cost of transporting goods from the coast to the hinterland. Kenya had initially committed to building the SGR from the Port of Mombasa all the way to Malaba, but the project was halted in Naivasha in 2019 after the government failed to secure financing for the remaining stretch. President Museveni, a strong advocate for the railway project, expressed frustration at Kenya’s decision, arguing that the absence of a complete SGR corridor keeps Uganda’s import and export costs prohibitively high.
During a talk show in Mbale City on November 11, Mr Museveni criticised obstacles faced by landlocked countries accessing the sea for trade. ‘That is why we have had endless discussions with Kenya. This one stops, another comes. The railway, the pipeline, the what, we discuss. But that ocean belongs to me. Because it is my ocean. I am entitled to that ocean. In the future, we are going to have wars,’ he said. Meanwhile, Uganda has already initiated work on its portion of the SGR from Malaba to Kampala after securing financing. Turkish contractor Yapi Merkezi has begun geotechnical surveys and infrastructure mapping along the proposed 273-kilometre corridor, and most of the required land has been acquired.
Mr Ruto also announced that next week he will launch major road projects to construct dual carriageways linking Kenya to the Uganda border towns of Busia and Malaba, aimed at easing traffic congestion and reducing delays affecting cargo movement. He said the Kericho-Kisumu-Busia highway and the Mau Summit-Eldoret-Malaba highway will be upgraded to dual-carriage standard. For these infrastructure plans to be realised, Kenya requires KShs5 trillion, funding it has not yet secured. Mr Ruto further outlined strategies to reduce Kenya’s dependence on food imports. The country remains a heavy consumer of maize, much of which is sourced from Uganda.
Uganda’s status
Uganda has made significant steps in reviving its standard gauge railway (SGR) ambitions after years of stalled progress. With financing secured, government has moved ahead with preparatory works for the 273km Malaba-Kampala section, which forms the backbone of the country’s modern rail network. Turkish contractor Yapi Merkezi has already begun geotechnical surveys, soil testing and route mapping along the corridor.