Editor,

RE: "Rwanda won’t opt out of Northern Corridor Standard Gauge Railway project – Govt” (The New Times, May 19).

The last time I checked, corruption in Tanzania was similarly beyond the scales, which is exactly why President John Pombe Magufuli has decided that combating it must be his primary priority. If I may also point it out, before the new President’s arrival, Rwanda was losing substantial quantities of high value export consignments, especially minerals, while in transit in Tanzania. Luckily, this problem is being addressed but it shouldn’t be the only criteria in deciding which route or whether we should work on strengthening access via both the central and northern corridors.

In my view we need both. We should, therefore, go ahead on both routes, with the speed of their respective construction depending on how fast our partners on both routes are able and prepared to do their part.

From what I read from the press, Uganda may have decided to prioritize the South Sudan extension of the Northern Corridor SGR (Standard Gauge Railway) rather than the extension to Rwanda. Should that be the case, of course, it becomes logical for Rwanda to give priority to the Central Corridor SGR and get back to building its portion of the Northern Corridor later, when Uganda has itself extended the Mombasa rail link to the Rwandan border.

The important thing is to understand that it is not a question of either one or the other. Both are desirable. It is simply a question of which gets built first, but that decision is not solely Rwanda’s to make. It depends largely on the priority similarly accorded to railway portions to Rwanda by the other partners.

Mwene Kalinda

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They are both equally corrupt; but, consider the cost involved in building the two SGR. The last time I checked, the Northern Corridor SGR connecting Rwanda to Uganda would cost about $1 billion while the Central SGR connecting Rwanda to Tanzania would cost about $800 million, yet the latter is even shorter both between Kigali and Dar-es-Salaam and between Dar and major far Asian markets.

With the current size of our economy, it would be a surmountable task to build both SGRs (at the tune of nearly $2 billion) both in the short or long time. Plus, many other factors, including political and economic, need to be seriously taken into account.

Masubuko

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It is not true that Uganda has prioritized the Northern Corridor SGR. At the just concluded summit in Kampala, it was confirmed that the western route, Kampala-Kasese-Bihanga-Mirama Hill-Kigali feasibility and engineering designs are ongoing with Gauff Consultants.

Uganda and Rwanda are doing a joint assessment of the contractors who have expressed interest in the project. Uganda remains committed to fulfilling its obligations.We are willing to share more details concerning the progress.

Richard Kabonero,Uganda’s High Commissioner to Rwanda