The SGR train. [Photo/ Standard Gauge Railway Project Kenya]
The Jubilee administration had to go huge obstacles to deliver the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) on time, it can now be revealed. Interest groups and cartels did everything possible to derail the progress of the historic project, General Jeremiah Kianga, the Kenya Railway Corporation chairman, says. “I had thought that with my service of nearly 40 years (in the military), I was well prepared for any assignment in public service,” The Nation quoted the retired general as saying. “The reason this was challenging was that there was the multiplicity of players and the diversity of interests. And some were pulling in directions that were not helpful,” he revealed.When Kianga became KRC chairman in 2001, the project was at its early stages, but there were already many individuals fighting to get tenders. President Kenyatta’s government secured funding from a Chinese bank to build the railway in 2014, and as China Road and Bridge Corporation was about to start the construction work, several environmental groups started opposing the railway project. They did not want it to pass through the Nairobi and Tsavo national parks. Landowners along the railway line demanded to be compensated inflated amounts. Businessmen who lost out on the awarding of tenders sponsored some MPs to fight the project. Others went to court to derail the work. “We have had to go through very many challenges; the court cases, the environmental issues and the political issues surrounding this project,” The Nation quotes Deputy President William Ruto as saying. “This is a very proud moment for you (president), for the Jubilee administration and the people of Kenya. It shows the result to deliver results despite the challenges,” DP Ruto said. Even as National Assembly Transport Committee chairman Maina Kamanda gave the project the green light after several challenges were put on the way, some environmentalists still continued to fight the project.