The president William Ruto’s administration has made a U-turn and started embracing pet projects of his predecessor, retired president Uhuru Kenyatta despite condemning them during campaigns prior to the ended August 9, polls.
In particular, Transport, Roads and Public Works Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has directed that Standard Gauge (SGR) will be extended to the Kenya-Uganda Malaba border from Suswa despite having disparaged the intensive infrastructural project as money minting venture.
During the just concluded presidential campaigns, the Kenya Kwanza Alliance brigade castigated the SGR, Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Embakasi and the Naivasha Dry Port, a rhetoric that has since died off and succeeded by an unexpected rare embrace.
Transport CS has since directed the Kenya Railways to increase the number of trains to Kisumu from December 21 to January 3 to meet the high demand occasioned by Christmas season travel and ease pressure on the roads during the festive season.
“The number of trains should be increased,” Murkomen said.
The CS insisted that the government will also increase the number of wagons and coaches for passenger transportation.
Murkomen is on record over his recent utterances indicating that the Ruto regime will embrace the Standard Gauge Railway line project set to be extended to Malaba border into Uganda from Suswa to Kisumu through Bomet, Nyamira, parts of Kisii and finally to Malaba.
“There is no need for the railway to be taken to the bush. We will take it to the city of Nakuru, Eldoret and then to Kisumu and thereafter connect it to Uganda…The plan is meant to improve transport and reduce congestion of people travelling who use road instead of railway transport,” observed Murkomen.
On Wednesday, Murkomen and Chinese Ambassador to Kenya His Excellency Zhou Pingjian in company of Kenya Railways Board chairman retired General Joseph Kibwana, the management of Kenya Railways and Kenya Ports Authority officials enjoyed the passenger train ride from Nairobi to Suswa to visit the Naivasha Inland Depot as they sought to establish the practicability of the move.
Also, Murkomen commissioned the Rail Mounted Gantry cranes, aimed at easing the loading and offloading of containers from trailers to trains and vice versa reiterating that the government intends to develop Naivasha Inland Container Depot to handle goods destined to various terminuses in the country and the region.
The CS revealed that plans are underway of upgrading the existing Metre Gauge Railway (MGR) via Nakuru to Kisumu and via Eldoret to reach Malaba border as well.
“We are keen to utilise rail transport which is fast, safe and cheaper to enhance transportation of goods and people. We will also be working to restore passenger trains along the old MGR routes,” Murkomen alluded.
The president is on record castigating the Metre Gauge Railway renovations during his campaign trails which he allegedly termed ‘old-fashioned and waste of public coffers’ not to be adopted for the growing transport industry globally.
