Nairobi — Transport Ministers from four countries under the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIPs) have endorsed joint resource mobilization for construction of 6 Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) routes.
In a joint Communique on Friday, the Ministers welcomed the commitments of Partner States to commence construction of Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba, Malaba-Kampala and Kampala- Bihanga-Kasese-Mpondwe leading into DRC.
States also committed to the construction of Bihanga- Mirama Hills, Mirama Hills - Kigali and Tororo-Gulu-Nimule leading into South Sudan and Gulu- Pakwach-Vurra leading into DRC after securing financing for the Malaba-Kampala SGR section.
Kenya promised to start the construction of the Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba line by December with Uganda committing to finalize its contract by May 31.
The Ministers committed to exploring the possibility of Rwanda joining the existing working framework between Uganda and Yapi Merkezi on the update of feasibility study of Mirama Hills-Kigali section to ensure harmonization of specifications.
"The Cabinet Secretary/Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to fast track the review of the Tripartite Agreement on water transport on Lake Victoria and welcomed the initiatives by Rwanda for exploring the navigability of Akagera river," read a communique released following a meeting in Mombasa.
The Ministers settled on Rwanda as the host of the next SGRcluster meetings at a date to be agreed.
The four Ministers also committed to establishing a framework that facilitates cross-border maintenance of the SGR assets and facilities.
They further committed to harmonizing the planning and development of inland water transport infrastructure including development of navigation charts to provide seamless multimodal transport services within the NCIP.
The meeting was attended by Kipchumba Murkomen (Kenya) Jimmy Gasore (Rwanda), Roger Te Biasu representing the Minister of Transport of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Fred Byamukama, Uganda's Minister of State for Works and Transport.
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