ODM Leader Raila Odinga has revealed that he will be accompanying President Uhuru Kenyatta next week to seek Sh380 billion loan from China for the Standard Gauge Railway.
Raila who made the revelation on Saturday, when he made a stopover in Sondu, Kisumu County, said he will accompany Uhuru to Beijing to negotiate for the loan that will go towards the funding of the extension of the railway line from Naivasha to Kisumu inland port.
“I will be part of the delegation to accompany the President to the Asian country next week. The new SGR line will extend from Naivasha, Narok, Bomet, Sondu and finally Kisumu,” Raila said as quoted by Tuko.
The Cabinet approved construction of the second phase in 2017 and would be financed on a Government-to-Government arrangement in which Kenya Railways Corporation and China Communications Construction would sign the commercial contract.
Recently, top government officials drawn from the Transport Ministry and China representatives held a high powered meeting in Nairobi over the same.
The China visit between the two leaders and its outcome will be watched keenly by many Kenyans considering that Kenya’s debts abroad continue to rise by day with Raila at one time before the handshake even saying that the country’s foreign debts had reached at unmanageable levels.