Burundi joins CoW in regional joint infrastructure projects
From left: Presidents Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya)
and Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) at the Summit at the Commonwealth Resort
Munyonyo in Uganda. Photo/Morgan Mbabazi
By Joint Report The EastAfrican
Posted Saturday, February 22 2014 at 16:13
In Summary
Burundi, which attended the CoW meeting for the first time, asked to
be allowed to join all initiatives.
The formal inclusion of Burundi and Tanzania in the talks for closer
economic ties will reshape the political-economic map of the region,
as the countries seek to heal a rift that had threatened to scuttle
the East African Community.
Burundi now wants to participate in the implementation of joint
infrastructure projects by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan,
leaving Tanzania isolated in the region.
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At the same time, the so-called Coalition of the Willing partners
appeared to forge ahead with plans for the standard gauge railway that
will link the countries after Uganda and Rwanda said they would adopt
Kenya's controversial financing approach, in which it is receiving 85
per cent financing (or $4.4 billion) from Exim Bank of China.
The model has drawn controversy in Kenya, but a parliamentary
committee has finally given the go-ahead for the project.
Questions had been raised over the capacity of China Bridge and Road
Corporation to build the Ksh448 billion ($5.2 billion) Mombasa-Malaba
railway and over why the contract had been single-sourced.
READ: Controversy dogs firm building standard gauge railway line
It has also emerged that Uganda now wants to terminate an agreement it
entered with a Chinese firm for the construction of its SGR as the
fight for the contract enters a decisive phase.
READ: Uganda SGR row boils down to nine miles
Meeting in Kampala on Thursday for the Northern Corridor Integration
Project Summit, Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Yoweri Museveni
(Uganda) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda) agreed that Uganda and Rwanda would
adopt the Kenyan financing approach to fast-track the construction of
the SGR and report to the next Summit due in April.
The presidents said the countries must meet the March 2018 deadline
for completion of the standard gauge line. This came even as it
emerged that Uganda would cancel an existing deal on the SGR.
According to a February 5 letter from Uganda's Works Permanent
Secretary Alex Okello to the Solicitor General, the ministry
acknowledges that it signed a MoU with the China Civil Engineering
Construction Corporation in January 2012 "for purposes of
rehabilitating or upgrading of the existing railway line from Malaba
to Kampala."
Okello goes on to explain that after joining Kenya and Rwanda in a
tripartite agreement to develop a standard gauge railway, the MoU with
CCECC has to be terminated to make way for regional negotiations. He
seeks legal guidance from the Solicitor General on how this can be
achieved in the shortest possible time.
The letter does not explain what aspects of the tripartite agreement
make it necessary for Uganda to cancel the MoU, especially given that
the same ministry is trying to enter into a new MoU with another
Chinese civil contractor, the China Harbour Engineering Corporation,
CHEC.
The PS's letter is also at variance with recent developments that have
seen Kenya proceed to award the contract for its portion of the SGR to
the China Road and Bridge Corporation, another subsidiary of CHEC's
parent China Civil Construction Corporation, which is undertaking
construction of the Kampala-Entebbe superhighway.
Junior Works Minister John Byabagambi, who is chair of the SGR
Steering Committee, ruled out the possibility of the regional SGR
project being awarded to a single contractor, saying each country
would manage its portions of the project although they would try to
jointly approach the Chinese government for funding.
Uganda's portion of the line will cost an estimated $5 billion, not $7
billion as earlier estimated, he said.
http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Burundi-joins-CoW-in-regional-joint-infrastructure-projects-/-/2558/2217618/-/tii5iwz/-/index.html
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