New intrigues has emerged that China wasn’t comfortable to issue the sh 368 billion meant to extend the standard gauge railway from Naivasha to Kisumu.
During the forum attended by Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta ,signed project delivery agreements worth Sh67.5 billion for the Konza Data Centre and Smart Cities Project by telecommunications giant Huawei and the JKIA-James Gichuru expressway.
The Konza project deal is worth Sh17.5 billion while the expressway project, by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, is worth Sh50 billion.
The construction of the expressway is expected to ease traffic flow on the busy Mombasa highway as part of government interventions to decongest key roads in Nairobi.
Failure to secure the SGR loan to Kisumu has prompted the government to revive the old railway line and connect it to Sgr.
Consequently, the Transport Ministry has said that the government will concentrate on completing the railway at Naivasha before linking it to the old line.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia on Friday said that the government will then rehabilitate the old Meter Gauge Railway (MGR) which runs all the way to Malaba.
“No, we didn’t (sign the deal). We shall first complete connectivity of SGR and the MGR (Metre Gauge Railway) at Naivasha and then rehabilitate the line to Malaba border.
On receiving the news,Kenyans reacted on various ways.