Kampala — PD TOLL, an Australian firm, has been hired to manage the Rift Valley Railways (RVR). RVR are the managers of the Uganda and Kenya railway corporations under a 25-year concession.

PD Toll was selected amongst two other companies from Canada and South Africa that had bid for the administrative management of RVR effective August 1.

Officials disclosed that the hiring of PD Toll was a condition by the International Finance Company, the private sector lending-arm of the World Bank and KfW, a German technical lending bank, the financiers of RVR.

"PD Toll took over management after a wider consultation and advice from our lenders to look for more capable shareholders who can bring and inject in capital," Christina Sigowa, the RVR western region manager, explained over the weekend.

The selection of PD Toll came at a time when the Government was threatening to cancel its concession with RVR

RVR took over the operations of the ailing Uganda and Kenya railway corporations in November, 2006.

It paid $2m and $3m to the Uganda and Kenya governments respectively.

The sale agreement requires the consortium led by South Africa's Sheltam Trade Close Corporation to also pay concession fees equivalent to 11.1% of its gross revenues per year in each country.