State House blasts Raila and Media for lying about SGR loans

State House has come out to refute Raila Odinga’s reports and claims that Sh368 billion Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) loan was part of President Kenyatta’s recent trip to China.

Before their trip to China, Opposition leader said that he will accompany President Kenyatta to China to source for a 368 billion shillings loan for the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Naivasha to Kisumu.

“I will be part of the delegation that will accompany the President to the Asian country next week. The new SGR line will extend from Naivasha to Narok, Bomet, Sondu and finally Kisumu,” Mr Odinga told a crowd during a stopover rally at Sondu market in Kisumu then.

State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita however says SGR loan was not part of President Uhuru’s agenda during the meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing last week.

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Waita was responding to reports appearing on a section of local media claiming that Kenya’s bid to secure the loan for the extension of the railway from Naivasha to Kisumu flopped.

“It is very disappointing to read excerpts from the newspapers. The President cannot be said to be returning home empty-handed for something he did not request,” states Waita.

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Waita has termed the reports as factually incorrect and misleading.

“The Government of Kenya did not discuss any funding proposals for the extension of the SGR at the meeting. The SGR project is a regional project and the complexities in negotiating its completion involve several countries and securing financing for its completion could take several years of intricate negotiations,” he adds.

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma has also lashed out at the press over their reporting on the SGR loan deal.

“In fact, the SGR extension beyond Naivasha was never a priority agenda for the current mission to Beijing,” says Juma in a tweet.

This comes as Transport CS alluded that the Government was forced to make a surprise admission that the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will actually end in Naivasha from where the old railway will continue to be used to Kisumu.

According to Macharia, the SGR will be joined to the old meter gauge railway in Naivasha to speed up the resumption of transport services to kisumu.

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“We have agreed to work on upgrading the meter gauge railway as a matter of priority so that, once the ongoing construction between Nairobi and Naivasha are completed in August, we are able to transport goods to Malaba in time,” Mr. Macharia told Nation.

The move by China to deny Uhuru the loan could not have come at a better time according to most Kenyans.

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