Staying on Track

　　The Riek Machar-led rebellion against SouthSudan’s government could impinge on the plannedChina-supported modernization of East Africa’s railwaysystem， the first phase of which was launchedin early December 2013， in Kenya’s coastal city ofMombasa.

　　While launching the project， officials said theinter-regional trade among the five East AfricanCommunity countries of Kenya， Uganda， Tanzania，Rwanda and Burundi， along with South Sudan，would get a boost from the improved rail system.Recognizing the potential harm South Sudan’sconflict might have on the project， KenyanPresident Uhuru Kenyatta dispatched his CabinetSecretary for Foreign Affairs Amina Mohammed towork on mediation， together with ministers fromneighboring countries under the auspices of theIntergovernmental Authority on Development(IGAD)， which brings together eight countries in theEast and Horn of Africa.

　　By the end of the first week of January， peacetalks aimed at stemming the conflict took place inEthiopia’s capital， Addis Ababa. The Kenyan mediationteam hoped to reach a deal that would notjeopardize the $14-billion China-funded projectheaded by the state-owned China Road and BridgeCorp. Currently， the company has only financed thefirst 450-km section from Mombasa to Nairobi. Thethree-phase project (Mombasa to Nairobi， Nairobito Malaba/Kisumu and Malaba/Kisumu to Kampala)is aimed at modernizing the transport system inthe East African Community and is earmarked forcompletion by 2018.

　　Shrinking distance

　　The railway project includes development of anew high-speed， high-capacity standardgauge railway， with speeds of 120 kphfor passenger trains and 80 kph forfreight trains.

　　At its completion， the region’sfreight cargo will shift from road torail. Experts say this will lower road maintenancecosts as well as curb rising roadtraffic accidents.

　　According to Alfred Matheka， ManagingDirector of Kenya Railways， a state agencyin charge of railway services， the projectwill increase and unify the width between thetracks of the railway line from Mombasa to Kampala.This， Matheka said， will reduce transportationcosts， boost annual load tonnage from 5 million to29 million and cut transit time from Mombasa toMalaba from two days to just hours.

　　And while the colonial railway built over 100years ago connected only Kenya and Uganda， thenew modern line will also include South Sudan andRwanda， both of which transport freight throughKenya’s port of Mombasa.

　　While the old railway was intended to transportpeople and soldiers to ensure domination of the regionby the British， the new railway will place Kenyaas the regional hub in East Africa.

　　“The launch of the project will undoubtedlychange the East African way of doing business，”Kenyatta said.

　　China’s Ambassador to Kenya， Liu Guangyuan，said at the launch ceremony that Kenya is emergingas a leader in East Africa. “Kenya is stepping forward.It [the railway] will be a landmark project bothfor Kenya and East Africa，” Liu said.

　　Trade among the members of theEast African Community has tripledover the past 12 years， rising from $689million in 2000 to $2.4 billion at the end of2012， according to IMF estimates.

　　Long time coming

　　Increasing regional competition toattract foreign direct investment hasforced Kenya to take the lead to updateits railway， which was credited withopening up some of Africa’s most remotehinterland to the outside world.

　　The journey to the project launchbegan when Uganda and Kenya cooperated todraw up plans for upgrading the railway that linksKampala to the port city of Mombasa. Despite thegood intentions， the two sides have juggled overthe matter. In mid-2013， however， the two countriesagreed， together with Rwanda， to upgrade therailway system to standard gauge.

　　According to Michael Waikenda， Head of Communicationsof Kenya’s ruling National AllianceParty， the scheduled construction of the StandardGauge Railway (SGR) project will herald a majoreconomic transformation boosted by an expectedcommodity price slash.

　　Once finished， the extended railway network willtake freight movement off the roads， which are nowestimated to carry 80 percent of all passengers andfreight movements in the region.

　　Officials from the Kenya Road Highway Authority，a government agency in charge of road networks，have always charged that trucks transportingfreight across the region damaged roads andled to a high cost of infrastructure maintenance.Road freight is also frequently responsible for roadaccidents， which kill 3，000 people annually inKenya and leave many more injured.

　　Recognizing the importance of the Chinese Government’ssupport， President Kenyatta noted thatthe infrastructure project being undertaken by theChinese firm will not only lower the cost of doingbusiness but will create much-needed jobs.Liu Guangyuan and senior officials from the ChinaRoad and Bridge Corp. assured Kenyans of highquality construction and timely completion of theproject.

　　“We have mobilized all needed resources for thesuccessful project implementation， including staffand finances，” Liu said.

　　In addition， scholarships will be offered to some50 Kenyan students to study various courses onrailway and port services in Beijing universities.

　　Vision 2030

　　The project is also part of what Kenya sees as itsnational long-term development blueprint thataims to transform Kenya into a newly industrialized，middle-income country providing a high quality oflife to all its citizens by 2030 in a clean and secureenvironment. This is conveyed as Vision 2030.Gituro Wainaina， Acting Director General of Vision2030， said in Nairobi that the flagship projectwill mean Kenyans are set to enjoy much costsaving once the construction of a standard gaugerailway - one of the most important Vision 2030projects - is completed.

　　Before the launch， the Kenya Railways Corp.carried out massive public awareness campaignsmeant to move people who have settled on therailway reserve land to a safe distance from therailway line.

　　According to Harun Masinde of the Kenya RailwaysCorp. Communication Department， the corporationwill build a boundary wall， residential and stallunits for those affected by the new development.

　　Masinde said Kenya Railways hopes the newstandard gauge line can boost job opportunities.Kenya Railways， once Kenya’s biggest StateAgency employer of labor with a dominant staffunion， has seen its staff shrink from 25，000 people，deployed to serve across the railway network ofabout 2，400 km from Mombasa to Kisumu on theshores of Lake Victoria， to less than 4，000 todayowing to reduced business due to poor railwayservices.