Nation Team
16 October 2008
Nairobi — The company holding exclusive rights to manage the country's railway transport system has two weeks to inject more money into its operations and implement a number of conditions.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Thursday reminded the Rift Valley Railways (Kenya) Ltd to beef up its operational capital by October 30 or risk losing the concession the Government granted it in January 2006.
"The Government remains cautiously optimistic about the concession. Firm decisions will be made after October 31, 2008," Mr Odinga told Parliament in a statement demanded by Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo (ODM-K) in August.
And the House heard that the governments of Kenya and Uganda were consulting over what steps to take should RVR fail to meet its concession obligations.
Two years ago, RVR won the right to use the assets of Kenya Railways Corporation for freight services for 25 years, and for passenger services for five years.
In line with the concession rights, RVR committed to, among other things, pay the Government an entry fee of $3 million (Sh210 million), annual concession fees of 11 per cent of gross revenues, and $1 million (Sh70 million) every year, for passenger services. But Mr Odinga said the firm had not met its contractual obligations
Reports by Owino Opondo and Caroline Wafula
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