Four heads of state from the East Africa
Community converge in Changamwe, Mombasa today to preside over the
ground-breaking ceremony for the standard gauge railway line whose
construction is expected to cost Sh1.2 trillion.
President
Uhuru Kenyatta will lead Presidents Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Paul
Kagame (Rwanda) and Salva Kiir (South Sudan) in the ceremony.
The
line to be built by the China Communications Construction Company will
run from Mombasa to Malaba, Kampala and then Kigali and later to Juba.
Construction
work will be undertaken in three phases with Phase One starting from
Mombasa to Nairobi, followed by Nairobi-Malaba and Kisumu in Phase Two
and Malaba-Kisumu to Kampala in Phase Three. The projected completion
date is 2016.
Wednesday, President Kenyatta met Mr Liu
Qitao, the head of the company that will build the Mombasa-Nairobi
railway at State House Nairobi.
He said the railway was one of the Vision 2030 flagship projects and the largest to be undertaken in the country in 50 years.
“The
project will define my legacy as President of Kenya and it is my
personal desire that the implementation is done to the highest
standard,” Mr Kenyatta said. “Kenya will fully meet its obligations
towards the project. I will personally oversee its implementation.”
He
also said Kenya was working closely with Uganda and Rwanda to ensure
the railway extends to their countries because the project’s success
would boost ties between the neighbouring countries.
Mr
Liu said his company would ensure that the work is of high quality work
and that it is completed on time. The firm has expressed interest in
developing the Lamu port and other urbanisation programmes in various
cities.
“All the resources necessary for the successful
project implementation, including personnel and finances, have been
mobilised,” said Mr Liu.
In Parliament, four MPs
questioned the process through which the Chinese company was awarded the
contract to build the railway line.
During a press
conference at Parliament Buildings, Mr Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills, URP),
Mr Peter Kaluma (Homa Bay Town, ODM), Mr Suleiman Dori (Msambweni, ODM)
and Mr Simba Arati (Dagoretti North, ODM) said the project was
overpriced and was likely to become a burden on Kenyan taxpayers. They
also questioned why the contract was single-sourced.
The
MPs said the tender should have been handled as required by the Public
Procurement and Disposal Act and its regulations, which demand a
competitive bidding process.
“In as much as we support
the initiative, we do not support the process of single sourcing the
contractor. The loan from Exim Bank will be paid through public funds
and it is important that the process to identify the contractor is
transparent and follows the laid down procurement laws,” said Mr Keter.
Mr
Keter also cited a report in the Press that the Attorney General had
written to the Public Procurement Oversight Authority warning that the
award of the contract was in breach of the law.
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