Cost of railway queried even as leaders appreciate stride
One of the new trains at the Nairobi terminus on May 29, 2017. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Odinga maintained that the opposition’s only concern was the exaggerated cost of the project which he blamed on the Jubilee government.
- Mr Joho was blocked from attending the event by security officers after it emerged that he intended to question the variation of the project cost.
Controversy over the cost of the standard gauge railway (SGR) has haunted the project since its inception.
Critics of the project have repeatedly questioned the cost variation of the Mombasa – Nairobi section from the initial Sh220 billion to Sh327 billion terming it an outright rip-off by the Jubilee government.
On Wednesday, the National Super Alliance (Nasa) presidential candidate Raila Odinga revisited the controversy, questioning why the cost of the project was inflate by over Sh100 billion.
“We have never opposed standard gauge railway. The standard gauge railway you know is a Grand Coalition project, how can I oppose it? We conceived it as part of Vision 2030 project, it was designed in our time and tendered also in our time. It is only that it has been completed by the Jubilee government,” he said.
EXAGGERATED COST
Mr Odinga maintained that the opposition’s only concern was the exaggerated cost of the project which he blamed on the Jubilee government.
“We negotiated and awarded the tender at Sh227 billion when we were leaving office. What Jubilee only did was to retender the contract to the same contractor but at an inflated price of Sh350 billion. So it is just the cost of it that we have a problem with,” said Mr Odinga.
Mr Odinga criticised the move to bar Mombasa Governor from the flagging off of the passenger train at the Miritini terminus on Wednesday, terming it wrong.
Mr Joho was blocked from attending the event by security officers after it emerged that he intended to question the variation of the project cost.
“The project was to cost not more than Sh200 billion but the Jubilee government is telling us it has cost more than Sh300 billion. We deserve answers before the launch,” Mr Joho had said in Siaya town when he accompanied Senator James Orengo to present his nomination papers on Monday.
SWINDLING MONEY
“If they think they are going to get away with the SGR, the same way they got away with NYS after swindling our money, they are daydreaming,” he had warned.
Allegations of variations in the project cost first emerged in a report by the Parliamentary Budget Office, which questioned the increase.
The government however defended the extra cost, explaining that the Sh220 billion only catered for civil works with the balance taking care of rolling stock.
But the Budget Office questioned the rationale behind the variation especially for a line that was meant to operate on “open access” terms, meaning private businesses would be allowed to buy rolling stock and locomotives and run freight business on the SGR on commercial terms.
CONTRACTS SIGNED
“There was no variation. There were two contracts signed by Kenya Railways and the contractor. This is what most of the critics have refused to appreciate. There was a contract for the civil works, estimated at Sh220 billion and one for the provision of rolling stock,” argued then Transport Principal Secretary Nduva Muli.
He said the relatively high cost of the project, compared to other options like upgrading the existing line or the price for similar projects in other countries like Ethiopia, was due to the fact that Kenya was constructing a “viable railway transport infrastructure that will be ready for operations from the very first day.”
