Kenyan judge halts major east African rail project for two weeks
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's High Court halted work on a major rail line between Mombasa and Nairobi on Thursday, threatening to delay a government flagship project after a lawmaker raised objections over how landowners are compensated. Construction of the 447.5 billion shilling ($5 billion) standard gauge rail line, which is backed by China, was launched earlier this year by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and other east African leaders. The project, which was due to be completed in March 2018, will eventually link the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa to Nairobi and then to neighbouring states. The existing 19th century narrow gauge railway in Kenya only runs to Uganda whereas the faster new line is designed to go on to Rwanda and South Sudan and is aimed at cutting the hefty costs of trade between east African nations. Justice Charles Kariuki ordered that construction halt until Nov. 6, according to court papers. The order came in response to a lawsuit filed by Patrick Musimba, a member of the Kenyan Parliament from northeast Kenya, against the National Land Commission, Kenya Railway Corporation and others. Musimba had asked the court to block the project pending a hearing. The Nairobi to Mombasa stage of the railway will cost $3.6 billion, with China covering 90 percent of the financing, the Kenyan presidency said in May. Kenya will fund 10 percent. In May, East African leaders and China formally signed agreements on Sunday related to the construction of a new multi-billion dollar railway to run from the Kenyan port of Mombasa to Nairobi and on to neighbouring states. China Road and Bridge Corporation, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, has been appointed to construct the initial Kenyan leg of the new line, despite criticism there was no competitive tendering for the work. Kenyan officials said there was no public bidding because that was a condition of securing Chinese financing, but some lawmakers said the deal was overpriced.
