We should be shopping for high speed trains

There has been an interesting debate going on in Uganda with the members of parliament ‘begging’ President Museveni to cut some money off the defence budget in order to increase on the health budget. However the veteran freedom fighter was having none of it, arguing that the country’s security was a key area that was not to be tampered with. As the debate was going on, a Russian website revealed that Uganda was in talks with the Russians to buy six more Sukhoi Su-30 multirole fighter jets. In Kenya the University Academic Staff Union and University Non-Teaching Staff Union called off the strike after they were awarded a 33 percent and 14 per cent increased in basic salary and house allowance, respectively. The doctors on the other hand continued with their strike even as the government insisted it was an illegal one. We should not forget that before the doctors laid down their tools, the teachers had already been on strike.The Kenyan Finance Minister Robinson Githae insists that there is simply no money to address the teachers’ concerns. Interestingly the government had no trouble finding the money to increase allowances for permanent secretaries or to furnish parliament with $3000 seats. With Rwandans collecting money for their Agaciro Fund, East Africans should not be confused by the “no money” rhetoric from the Ugandan and Kenyan leaders. Ladies and gentlemen, the money is available and more is on its way. The real question now should be on how it will be spent. I am not talking about the money already in the state coffers after we have all been taxed. I am talking about the money we are to get from all the oil in Uganda, the oil in Kenya, the natural gas in Tanzania, the methane gas in Rwanda or the uranium in Burundi. Yes you read that right, Burundi has got uranium.Very soon the dollars from all this recently discovered wealth will start flowing and that time had better find us with a clear policy on how the money will be spent. Of course a lot of the money will still end up in the hands of the politicians whose salaries and allowances will continue rising. Some of it may go to arms dealers as our leaders purchase more military hardware to prepare for the illusions of war and to continue the endless fight against terrorism. A big chunk will be expropriated by the multinational companies that are involved in the exploitation of these resources. At the end of the day I think it would be wise to dedicate some of the profits from these resources to infrastructure development. And if you were to ask me what exactly the new petrodollars should do then I think the first thing on my list would be fixing the railways. The issue of railways in this region must be the most underestimated project. First of all, countries like Rwanda and Burundi still have no railways while those that have like Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania the trains are probably the slowest in existence. The old lines that were meant for the export of copper, cotton and coffee are the same lines being used to this day when it could be more helpful to move people and not just cargo. Air travel fares in the region must be the most obscene but we continue to ignore the immense potential of rail transport. Just imagine how much easier life would be if we had faster trains moving people and goods from Nairobi to Kampala or from Bujumbura to Dar es Salaam. Why do we continue to torture ourselves with long hour bus rides that often end in fatal accidents yet the option obscene air travel at awkward hours? If we are serious about developing East Africa and speeding up the integration process then we ought to invest some of the money from oil and gas in modernising our rail systems. I know you have seen numerous stories about plans to build a railway from Tanzania to Rwanda and to increase the gauge on the Uganda railway but are we not tired of all the talk and no action?If I had my hands on the oil money, I would invest in a new rail network that would open up different areas of the region and make transport cheaper and faster for more people. If you think Kenya’s Think highway is magical then you should think of what speed trains running across the region would mean. www.ssenyonga.wordpress.comTwitter: @ssojo81