On October 15, 2024, Uganda recently signed the contract to commence the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway from Malaba to Kampala in November this year.
Once completed, Uganda will join other East African Community member states such as Kenya and Tanzania with functioning SGR.
The project covering about 272 KM will be undertaken by the Turkish company Yapi Merkezi Holdings and is fully funded by the government of Uganda.
The government acquired USD2.7 billion about Shs10.8 trillion loan from Citibank, and the project will take only 48 months to be completed.
The contracts were signed in Kampala between officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport and Yapı Merkezi Holdings Vice Chairman Erdem Arıoğlu.
“The announcement and signing of the contract demonstrates the government’s commitment to improve infrastructure as well as empowering the private sector to compete in the region. The project will increase trade and reduce transport costs,” a Ministry of Works and Transport official said.
The announcement was warmly welcomed by the general public, especially the business community and the private sector, saying that if completed, it would boost regional trade and facilitate both political and economic integration in the region.
However, there is a lot of skepticism from the majority of the general public about the project and its future expectations due to the sequence of corruption scandals in the development of infrastructure projects in Uganda, either with officials embezzling funds meant for the projects implementation, presentation of shoddy and substandard work, as well as inflating of the costs.
All this causes the government great financial loss and denies the general public access to basic services as well as quality standards of living.
For Ugandans to benefit from the funds and the SGR project, the government must be intentional and aggressive to shield the newborn baby against the virus of corruption that has for years hindered development.
Without a commitment from the government to fight the corrupt, the taxpayer will end up not getting value for money, moreover, acquired in the form of a loan that must be paid back.
Once successfully built, this SGR will not only save NRM’s President Museveni from explaining his pending pledges but will further usher him into the land of great support during the 2026 presidential elections.
