China did not reject Kenya’s request for funding the SGR

I have been following with keen interest the debate surrounding the recent visit by President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga to China.  There were two reasons why the trip was bound to generate varied reactions and create room for speculation. First, there was no official communication about the departure and the purpose of this visit. Secondly, the remarks made by Raila on the eve of trip that he would accompany Uhuru to borrow money for construction of the second phase of SGR from Naivasha and Kisumu. Raila would even give details of the routes and towns where the new railway line would pass. So, when reports indicated that China has rejected Kenya’s request for Sh368 billion SGR loan, Kenyans had a reason to believe this story.

Raila has been working closely with Uhuru since the handshake and so assumption was that he could not have talked about the agenda of the trip before discussing it with the President. Raila has maintained that he is still leader of opposition. On his part, Uhuru would always maintain that Raila was not part of the government. He is in opposition. We only agreed to work together for the sake of peace and unity of all Kenyans. Therefore, the argument that Raila is running government is neither here nor there. Again, let me say this: There were high chances that Raila could have travelled to China in his capacity as Africa Union Special Representative for Infrastructure. In his AU docket, there is a component of developing projects in his motherland.