By Philip Mwakio
Kenya and Ugandan governments together with the Rift Valley Railways (RVR) have signed a revised concession agreement to pave way for the release of about $250 million to boost operations along the Kenya-Uganda railway line.
Media reports said the new agreement will fast-track the introduction of a professional operator to manage the network and attract development partners to invest in the sector.
The two government’s have been at loggerheads with RVR’s principal shareholder, Citadel Capital, over the inclusion of two crucial railway lines in a concession. The company was contracted to manage the Mombasa- Kampala railway line.
The signing now brings to an end a row that had pitted the Egyptian equity firm and a section of Ugandan and Kenyan businessmen who did not want the Tororo-Pakwach and Kampala-Kasese railway lines included in the concession, against Citadel Capital’s demands.
RVR won a 25-year concession to run the Ugandan and Kenyan railways jointly in 2006 but has irked both governments by failing to recapitalise the operation and invest significantly in the network.
