Rwanda and Uganda, yesterday, agreed to conduct joint capacity building programmes to effectively manage the envisaged Kigali-Kampala standard gauge railway.

The proposed standard gauge railway, to be completed by March 2018, will stretch from Mombasa through Nairobi to Kampala, Kigali and Juba.

The meeting, held in Kampala, noted that while the studies on the project were still ongoing, Kigali-Kampala and Juba had given themselves up to end of this month to have made a final decision on the project contractor.

Tororo in Eastern Uganda has already been designated as one of the training centres for engineers to handle the standard gauge railway project.

"We are going to send our engineers to undertake courses related to railway but we also agreed on how we are going to have another set up in Kigali also for related activities,” Infrastructure minister James Musoni told The New Times from Kampala.

"Capacity building has been key not only on how we are going to do it in Tororo but also looking at other parts of the world where railway business has been there for long.”

Tripartite arrangement

The deal is a step forward following a decision by three East African Community partner states–Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda–to enter a tripartite arrangement to fast-track integration projects, including the standard gauge railway.

The consultants are yet to report the total cost of engineering and procurement as well as advise on the routes and alignment from Kagitumba to Kigali.

Dr Augustine Mugisa, a member of the Road Industry Council in Uganda, said 904 kilometres of road from Kampala to Kagitumba had been split for easy management.

He said while Uganda had approved China Civil Engineering Construction Company to construct the sections, the company was in the spotlight over having restructured its organisation thereby raising suspicions over its competence to handle the job.  

"Visits will be made to the countries where they have worked to assess progress, and then talk to the authorities who contracted them to see if they have any problems or not,” he added.

After the verifications, Mugisa added, each of the countries will sign a memorandum of understanding to construct the lots under their jurisdiction.

Trade experts point out that the railway line will have the capacity to ferry cargo at speed of up 80 kilometres per hour, which will trim down transportation costs – considered one of the leading challenges to doing business within the region.