Sh27 billion ‘set aside’ for finished project

The government will be spending more than Sh30 billion in the next financial year on railway projects, including on upgrading, maintaining and paying pending bills for some lines, amid confusion on allocations for some projects that were completed and officially launched.

According to the 2021/22 budget read on Thursday, Sh27 billion was allocated for the Nairobi-Naivasha Phase two line. The Nairobi-Naivasha Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line was officially launched in October 2019.

Officials from Treasury and the Kenya Railways said the allocation will be used for the construction of Naivasha-Longonot line, as well as connecting the Nairobi- Naivasha SGR with the Naivasha- Kisumu Meter Gauge line.

“Although the Nairobi-Naivasha line is already complete and operational, the Naivasha-Longonot line is incomplete,” Kenya Railways managing director Philip Mainga said Friday.

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Public Investments Director-General Stanley Kamau also told the Nation that part of the Sh27 billion would be spent to marshal the line.

The government also plans to spend Sh1.1 billion for the rehabilitation of the Nairobi-Nanyuki line and Sh700 million to rehabilitate the Naivasha- Kisumu line. The Nairobi- Nanyuki line has been operational since last year, with passenger and cargo operations running currently.

“In the Nairobi-Nanyuki line, there were some unpaid dues and this amount will cater for that. There are also some parts of the line requiring rehabilitation, as is the case with the Naivasha- Kisumu line,” Eng Kamau said.

The Nairobi-Naivasha and the Nairobi-Nanyuki lines have been operational since 2019 and last year respectively, a factor that begged clarification on what the budgeted amounts were meant to do.

The officials could, however, not provide details on other infrastructure budgets the government announced, stating that they were waiting to receive documents from Treasury, with a breakdown on how the money will be spent, next week.

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Meanwhile, county governments under the Amaya Triangle Initiative are hoping to use the newly re-introduced livestock transport wagons from Nanyuki station to Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) depot in Nairobi to promote the local economy and increase earnings for beef cattle farmers.

“We expect Laikipia and the northern counties of Samburu, Isiolo, and Baringo which have immense potential in cattle production to benefit from a ready market with KMC since the railway line will offer faster transportation of our livestock while at the same time offering cheaper transportation rate,” said Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi.

The first batch of livestock from the region has already been delivered to KMC through the railway line.

Additional reporting by Steve Njuguna

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