Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has opposed plans to have the Standard Gauge
Railway (SGR) diverted to Kisumu, saying that was not the original route and
that forcing SGR to Kisumu is a dead end that denies it viability in both the
long and short term.

The original route for the second phase of the SGR was from
Naivasha-Nakuru-eldoret-Turbo-Kavulengu-Webuye-Tanduyi-Malaba.

“This is the route we support as patriotic sons and daughters of this
country and not this business of forcing the SGR to pass via Kisumu to support
the handshake,” Khalwale said.

The second phase (2A) of the SGR, which is expected to be completed this
year. The 120-km Nairobi-Naivasha line is the first of the three segments that
make up the second phase of the SGR project that ends in Malaba town located at
the Kenya-Uganda border.

The Mombasa-Nairobi phase cost was Sh327 billion, the extension to Naivasha
Sh150 billion and the final phase will cost Sh380 billion.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga were in China last week to
allegedly to seek for a loan to finance the third phase of the SGR.

Statehouse, however, refuted the allegations saying the Sh368bn SGR loan was
not part of Uhuru-Jinping talks.

Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita issued a statement on Saturday, following
reports in the media that China declined to give Kenya a Sh368 billion loan,
saying the reports were “misleading and extremely damaging to the reputation of
the people and the Government of the Republic of Kenya.”

“It is important to note that the question of funding for the extension
of the standard gauge railway from Naivasha to Kisumu was not on the agenda of
the meeting between the two Presidents. It therefore follows that the President
cannot be said to be returning home empty-handed for something he did not
request,” he said.

SGR Phase 2A Nairobi- Naivasha

Nzioka also announced that phase 2A of the SGR will be completed by August
2019.