Refurbishment of Kampala-Malaba railway line set as Parliament approves Shs809b loan.

Traders who transport their cargo from the Mombasa port in Kenya on the road will have a reason to smile when the Kampala-Malaba railway line is refurbished with a loan from the African Development Fund (ADF) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Currently the Uganda Railway Corporation (URC) is working on different railway rehabilitation projects in order to revamp the old meter gauge railway that has been dilapidated over decades.

Now, as the wait continues for the realization of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) that connects Uganda to the East African coastal city of Mombasa, hope will be in the completion of the refurbishment project so that large cargo to and from the coast is easily transported.

President Yoweri Museveni has continuously promised the country that the cost of doing business would go down if the railway transport is revamped since it is cheaper to transport goods on railway than road.

Museveni in various speeches has consistently said that revamping of the old Meter Gauge Railway (MGR) line as the country waits for SGR will be to the benefit of the booming industrialization as it will ease access to raw materials and also transport processed goods at lower costs hence enabling them to compete on the international market.

For instance, in his New Year’s message for 2021, the President said that; “we are working with our relatives in Kenya to modernize the railway by building the SGR which will bring the cost of transport for a 32-tonne container to Mombasa from KSh350000 (Shs12m) by road to KSh16500 (Shs6m) by railway in a record one-day journey compared to the traditional 21 days”

Kenya and Tanzania have a running SGR infrastructure with Uganda mostly interested in connecting to the active line from Mombasa to Naivasha inside Kenya. Government is yet to secure funding for the SGR in order to start from the border with Kenya which also has to complete the project to Malaba border post.

Now, the government’s plan to revamp the old MGR from Kampala to the border post of Malaba has been boasted by Parliament’s approval of a UGX 260.9 Bn (Euro 65m) loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and UGX 602.1 Bn (Euro 150m) from the African Development Fund (ADF). Parliament during a plenary sitting presided over by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa was told by the Committee on National Economy that the government will provide co-funding of UGX 187.7 Bn to the project of which UGX 79.9 Bn will be used to compensate the Project Affected Persons (PAPs).

According to the report of the Committee, the Kampala-Malaba MGR line had not been given attention by the government because for a decade or so, the efforts have been on the development of the road infrastructure across the country.

“Cargo that would ordinarily be transported on the Rail lines is now routed on the road network. In essence, this has contributed to the high costs of doing business as well as increased road maintenance needs and costs” reads part of the Committee report.

Parliament while approving the loan, passed a recommendation that the government fast-tracks the implementation of the SGR  in order to move in tandem with other East African Community (EAC) partner states. Also, the government has been argued to invest in a concrete sleeper production plant that will be fully equipped and owned to facilitate production of concrete sleepers for rehabilitation and construction of other railway lines in areas where the SGR will not pass.

Vandalism challenges

Parliament was informed by the Committee on National Economy that most of the railway infrastructure in the country has been vandalized by thieves who pluck out the sleepers that are allegedly used in some of the industries in the country as raw materials.

The problem has been attributed to the failure by the Uganda Railway Corporation (URC) and the Railway Police Unit to regularly monitor the infrastructure across the country and that the penalties for those convicted for vandalism are not stringent enough.

“Government should consider an upward revision in the legal penalties for vandalism of railway assets in order to make them stringent enough to deter the vice of vandalism of the rehabilitated railway network” it was recommended.

Current efforts

While appearing before the Committee on Government Assurances previously, URC officials revealed that there is a 4-year capacity-building project in place that will see M/s Imathia S.A & Consultants; the rehabilitation of 271.6km of the Kampala-Malaba MGR line; laying of new steel sleepers along Malaba-Mukono section; procurement of new freight rolling stock and repair of existing wagons and locomotive stations and, the training of staff to enhance their skills.

Currently, the government is battling with Sogea Saton a company that abandoned works on the rehabilitation of the Tororo-Gulu line after reportedly receiving a payment of up to Euro 14m (about Shs56b) before significant work was done on the site. 

There are plans by the Ministry of Finance to procure another contractor to take over the works under the government of Uganda financing since the European Union, the original funders pulled out following the abandonment of the site by Sogea Saton.

About 2 months ago, the state minister for Finance (in charge General Duties), Henry Musasizi told the Government Assurances Committee that the government had earmarked Shs248b for the new contractor to be procured and take over the works.

Connected to the Tororo-Gulu railway line, the rehabilitation of the Gulu-Pakwach meter gauge railway line will cost the Government Sh192b with works targeted for 129km. The project will involve the replacement of sleepers and rails that will be repaired and re-used.

The Kyengera-Kasese line that was known for the transportation of copper ore from Kilembe Mines in Kasese District to Kampala has also been planned for rehabilitation and works will include creating a link to the Hima Cement factory.

So far, phase one of the Gulu Logistics Hub has been completed by Ambitious Construction (Contractor) and it has facilities like warehouses, customs station, railway station, and all the handling facilities for cargo. The Sh45.7b project is being funded by the Government of Uganda (Sh9b), UK/Commonwealth Development Office (Sh6.6b), and the European Union (Sh30.1b).

With all these projects in the pipeline, URC has embarked on the eviction of encroachers on its land in areas where buildings had been erected along or on top of what used to be the railway route.