William Ruto and Yoweri Museveni on Saturday met in Kisumu to commission the long-awaited extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), a major infrastructure project aimed at enhancing regional trade despite ongoing concerns over its cost.
The two leaders presided over the launch of the next phase of the railway, which will connect Kisumu to Malaba and ultimately link Kenya to Uganda and the wider East African region.
Speaking during the event, President Ruto highlighted the historical role of railway infrastructure in shaping economic growth across East Africa.
“It’s in moments like these that our nations are shaped. 130 years ago, the Kenya-Uganda railway connected the Indian Ocean to East Africa. It did more than move people and goods — it transformed cities and economies,” he said.
Ruto noted that the railway spurred the rise of key urban centers such as Nairobi and Kisumu, while also contributing to the growth of towns like Eldoret and Jinja as it extended to Kampala in 1931.
The President said the current SGR expansion builds on a long-standing vision for regional integration, tracing it back to a 2008 agreement between former President Mwai Kibaki and Museveni to establish a seamless railway network linking Kenya and Uganda.
“We break ground today for 107 kilometres of SGR from Kisumu to Malaba. This line will serve not just Kenya and Uganda, but also Rwanda, Burundi, the DRC and the Central African Republic,” Ruto said.
He emphasized that high logistics costs remain a major barrier to economic competitiveness in the region, citing delays in cargo transportation.
“Cargo takes up to 100 hours to reach Kampala. We cannot build prosperity like this,” he noted, adding that the Mombasa–Malaba corridor is expected to spur industrial growth and special economic zones in areas such as Busia and Kisumu.
According to Ruto, Uganda has already awarded the Malaba–Kampala section, with plans to extend the railway further to Kasese.
The SGR, constructed between 2013 and 2019, currently links Mombasa to Nairobi and onward to Naivasha. However, its planned extension to Uganda stalled after China declined to provide additional financing.
Kenya currently spends approximately KSh 129.3 billion annually servicing Chinese debt, much of it tied to the railway project — significantly higher than the roughly KSh 21.3 billion generated by the SGR in revenue last year.
An Auditor General’s report further indicated that over KSh 33.6 billion has been lost through penalties and interest due to delayed debt repayments.
Despite these financial concerns, the government maintains that completing the railway is critical for regional integration, trade, and economic growth.
Earlier this week, President Ruto also launched another phase of the railway in Narok County, stating that the project will “catalyse regional economic growth” and position Kenya as a key transport and logistics hub in eastern and central Africa.
The next phase of the SGR is expected to extend to Malaba at the Kenya–Uganda border, with Treasury estimates placing the cost at over KSh 500 billion.
Kenya views the railway extension as a strategic link to landlocked countries including Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in a bid to strengthen trade across the region.
