By Phil Wes
-Was the SGR a Jubilee project?
-Was the SGR routing supposed to go to Malaba and on to Uganda, totally leaving out Kisumu?
Here are the facts:
The original SGR feasibility study identified two corridors for the development of a modern, high capacity Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) transport system for both freight and passengers as follows:
*Northern Corridor*
Phase I {472 km} Mombasa – Nairobi
Phase 2 {490 km} Nairobi – Kisumu – Malaba divided into three sub-phases
Phase 2A {120 km} Nairobi – Naivasha Estimated cost of the project is USD. 1.5 billion.
Phase 2B {262 km} Naivasha – Narok – Bomet – Nyamira – Kisumu (Includes:) — New Kisumu Port
Phase 2C {107 km} Kisumu – Yala – Mumias – Malaba
*LAPSSET Corridor*
Lamu – Isiolo – Nakdok : (bordering South Sudan) = 1,350 km
Nairobi – Isiolo – Moyale (Bordering Ethiopia) = 700km (At feasibility stage)
This identitification and choice of these corridors and phases was solely based on import/export requirements of E.A.C. member states.
And as can be seen the entire EAC preferred the SGR to terminate at the new Kisumu port before branching off to Malaba from Butere (totally missing out Eldoret).
I may also want to remind you all the Raila Odinga manifesto of 2007 (dubbed infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure) was the originator of the SGR project. That manifesto which Kibaki praised was to be immediately merged with Vision 2030 when grand coalition was formed in 2008.
When the general elections of 2013 were righed in favour of jubilee, the costs were renegotiated in 2013 and the new government irregularly decided to single source the construction of the project to the same form that conducted the feasibility.
I may also want to add Eldoret International Airport remains a white elephant because of bad politics that deliberately omitted the upgrading of the Kisumu Airport to build a new international airport in the middle of nowhere in North Rift. Don’t let the SGR suffer the same fate.
#FactsOnly
