Kenya, Uganda want out of RVR deal

URC officials have confirmed that they are in talks with a German concessionaire whom they are lining up, first, to start with the Gulu-Juba line between northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. CHARLES KAZOOBA reports

Uganda and Kenya are said to be looking for an exit route from the joint concession with Rift Valley Railways Ltd, just a year after handing over the management of their railway networks and assets to the South African consortium.
The EastAfrican has learnt that authorities in the two countries are taking issue with what they describe as RVR’s continued underperformance, wastage of concession assets and infrastructure and failure to remit revenue to the two governments.

Reliable sources say that technocrats from the Uganda Railways Corporation, Kenya Railway Corporation and Uganda’s Finance Ministry and its Kenyan counterpart met in Nairobi from Tuesday, May 13, to Thursday, May 15 to come up with a common position on RVR and to find a way forward. The meeting, according to one of the senior Ugandan officials who attended, was one of the “diplomatic avenues” aimed at ending the troubled marriage between the concessionaire and the two countries.

However, Uganda’s State Minister for Works and Transport John Byabagambi has confirmed the position, saying, “It is no longer a viable venture.”
Mr Byabagambi added, “We are saying that if the situation does not change, we shall terminate the agreement soon. We are very serious.”
Kenya’s Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere confirmed that in-house consultations had taken place between the parties to look into the performance of the concessionaire. The minister, however, said that while no decision has been made yet, the performance percentage of goods and speed of trains was below expectations, as was the injection of inputs to improve the system.
Mr Mwakwere added that, for any drastic measures to be taken, every clause of the agreement would have to be assessed. A full evaluation meeting, the minister said, is scheduled for June next year, but that does not stop the parties from carrying out routine consultations to evaluate performance, which so far has proved disappointing.
In 2005, the Rift Valley Railways consortium, in which South Africa’s Sheltam Rail Pty has a controlling interest, won the bid to manage some 900 kilometres of line from Kenya’s Indian Ocean port of Mombasa through Nairobi and across the Rift Valley to Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria.

“RVR is not performing to the standards demanded of them. The concession agreement states that 30 per cent of capacity must go to cargo, but they are carrying less than 10 per cent,” said Mr Byabagambi.
Uganda has apparently already moved to identify other concessionaires. Both the minister and URC officials have confirmed that they are in talks with a German concessionaire whom they are lining up, first, to start with the Gulu-Juba line between northern Uganda and Southern Sudan.
The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Physical Infrastructure, Nathan Byanyima, had at the close of April urged Uganda’s Finance and Works and Transport Ministries to evaluate RVR’s operations.

Mr Byanyima said Uganda’s transport minister had intimated that Kenya was equally disappointed with RVR.
Said the MP, “The same scenario has played out in Kenya. Our minister told us that the Kenyans had expressed similar concern over underperformance.”
According to an assessment last year by the Kenya Railways Corporation, done in the first three months after RVR took over, the company transported 405,170 tonnes of goods compared with 433,509 tonnes transported by the Kenya Railways Corporation in the three months preceding the concession — a 6. 5 per cent drop. Revenues for the first three months after the takeover amounted to Ksh1.08 billion ($15.65 million).
The evaluation was based on the reports that RVR has been submitting to the residual KRC, its regulator.

Bad blood, particularly between RVR and Uganda, was sparked off after one of the country’s locomotives, managed by RVR, was damaged in an accident in Nairobi mid last year and the concessionaire failed to either repair or replace it.
The EastAfrican was informed that the badly damaged locomotive has been abandoned at the Nalukolongo premises of URC.
Acting URC chief executive officer Emmanuel Lyamulemye estimates that a new locomotive costs $2 million. But he said the Ugandan locomotive was worth $1 million before the accident due to wear and tear. Uganda owns at least 40 locomotives whereas Kenya has more than 100.
“RVR has not performed at all. They have not fulfilled their conditions. They have not improved the railway infrastructure, neither do they service the locomotives. Kenya is saying the same thing,” said Mr Byabagambi.

Under the agreement, RVR was to pay an entry fee of $3 million to Kenya and another $2 million to Uganda before taking over the running of the network. The company was also supposed to pay in $24 million in equity as proof of ability to raise money from its own sources to the run the railway. RVR-Uganda was supposed to provide the government a performance bond of 10 per cent of $300 million, the value of the conceded assets.

On November 1, 2007, the South African firm could neither raise the money for the entry fee nor the equity. In the end, Sheltam had to invite local shareholders Transcentury Ltd and ICDCI Investments Ltd, and an Australian company, Babcock and Brown, to buy equity in RVR.
Mr Lyamulemye corroborated the minister’s position on phone from Nairobi during the meeting with their Kenyan counterparts and RVR, saying “Their performance is very poor. They have mismanaged the locomotives, wagons and the infrastructure. They have failed to maintain them. They are very unco-operative.”
The URC official, however, said the damage costs could be deducted from RVR’s conceded assets account as provided for by the agreement.

RVR has further not remitted revenue to the government. Mr Lyamulemye told The EastAfrican that they are supposed to remit 11 per cent of gross revenue on a quarterly basis. Said the URC chief, “They have not invested any monies, and have not remitted any revenue, yet they continue to be unco-operative.”
But when The EastAfrican talked to the RVR leadership, the concessionaire sounded upbeat about their operations. “We are very comfortable with what is going on,” RVR managing director Roy Puffet said via his cellphone.
Earlier, junior officials working with RVR-Uganda blamed their woes on the delayed approval of the partial risk guarantee (PRG) by Uganda and the failure to establish a joint railway commission between Uganda and Kenya that would monitor the railway operations.
We could be doing much better but the Uganda Parliament delayed approving the partial risk guarantee, which would have enabled us to source loans,” one of the officials, who preferred anonymity, said.

But Mr Lyamulemye dismissed the reasoning, saying “Many issues we are raising did not require the partial risk guarantee.”
The Parliamentary Committee on the National Economy, in its report to the House in February 2007, said it stayed approval of the partial risk guarantee because it was not provided for in the first agreement, which prompted the government to amend it before returning to the committee.
However, the Kenya government readily provided a PRG worth $45 million as it did not have to be approved by parliament but only by the Cabinet.
The PRG is an instrument recently introduced by the World Bank to mitigate the risk of investing in emerging Third World economies. It is designed to provide cover to private investors against termination resulting from either breach of agreement by governments or a change of national policy.

The Uganda and Kenya railways concession is one of the components of the East African Community’s Trade and Transport Facilitation Project aimed at boosting trade among the partner states. The EAC Customs Union implementation is another component. The Tanzania Railway Corporation is also in the process of concessioning its operations.
Ugandan officials say they anticipate minimal losses after terminating the concession. The URC chief said they have so far looked at three alternatives: Completely stop railway services (a worst case scenario); reconstitute URC in the interim period after doing away with RVR; or identify another concessionaire (estimated to take another two years).
“If both governments agree, we shall terminate the concession. Uganda will not lose anything, after all RVR has not invested anything,” Mr Lyamulemye said.

He said they would recover their losses by seizing the performance bond of $3 million. “The concessionaire will also pay liquidation damages. The only losses we envisage are the condition (worn out) of our assets and disruption of railway services.”

+++++++++++++
Additional reporing by Catherine Riungu in Nairobi

Poll officer challenges Matuga case

The Electoral Commission of Kenya has now filed an application, saying that its returning officer who was in charge of Matuga constituency was not personally served with an election petition.
The petition was filed against the officer, Mr Ali Maalim Hassan, together with the Matuga MP.

Diligence

Mr Hassan said the process server who went to serve Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere and officials at the ECK headquarters did not act with “due diligence” in attempting to serve him personally before opting for substituted service.
He said the notice of presentation of the petition was published in the Daily Nation on January 25, 2008, which was the same day the process server allegedly attempted to effect personal service on him.

Mombasa High Court judge Joseph Sergon Wednesday certified the application as urgent and will be heard on Tuesday next week.
Meanwhile, Mr Mwakwere, the Transport minister, has urged the court to suspend all the proceedings with regards to the petition, pending the determination of an appeal he has filed.
The MP, through his lawyer Alfred Mabeya, told Mr Justice Sergon that unless the proceedings were stayed, then the appeal would be rendered nugatory.

Appealing

Mr Mwakwere is appealing against the court’s ruling that dismissed his application to have the election petition filed against him by an aggrieved voter, Mr Ayub Juma Mwakesi, struck out.
The minister was challenging the mode of service, saying that he was not personally served as is required by the law.

However, the judge dismissed the arguments and noted that the efforts by the server in attempting personal service were an indication that he had tried his best to reach the minister but his efforts were frustrated due to his unavailability.

++++++++++++
Story by EUNICE MACHUHI

Publication Date: 5/22/2008

New system of clearing goods at Mombasa port hinders trade

May 21, 2008: Finance minister Amos Kimunya has been urged to appoint a team to review the cargo clearance system at the Port of Mombasa. Players in the shipping industry said the new system of verifying cargo using customs entry form C63 and shipping line documents, known as delivery order, was cumbersome, time wasting and a hindrance to trade.

To avert the delay headache and make sure that a consignment reaches an importer in time, a section of stakeholders have proposed that clearing and forwarding agents be allowed to pay KPA charges before the arrival of vessels and also before verification of cargo to avoid the blame game between KPA and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (KIFWA) National vice chairman Peter Mambembe, wants Mr Kimunya and his Transport counterpart, Chirau Ali Mwakwere, to intervene and resolve some nagging problems at the port, which include cargo delays.

“Importers are paying unnecessary accrued storage charges when the mistake is not theirs. We have proposed severally that KPA should use its own official documents known as Mombasa Port Release Order (MPRO) to trace and place containers stopped for verification by the customs Risk Management Unit (RMU). The time and date the container has been placed down for verification should be indicated on the MPRO. This will show who is the cause of the delay,” said Mr Mambembe.

Deaf earsHe said complaints by importers and clearing and forwarding agents have been falling on the deaf ears of KRA and KPA officials, and that Mr Kimunya should now intervene. He said such delays inconvenience clearing agents after the seven day-delivery-order period granted by the shipping lines on domestic cargo expires, thereby forcing them to go back to the shipping lines to seek an extension. KPA had introduced revised documentation and cargo clearing procedures effective from April 28.

It was envisaged that the new procedure would have significantly reduced dwell time of containers at the port.William Kiyemba, the representative of the Ugandan business community on port matters, also concurred with the KIFWA official, saying that the new system had not had marked improvement since its introduction. Instead, he said, port customers were experiencing delays in processing documents at the one-stop-centre. The cost incurred during the scanning of containers, following the introduction of new cargo documentation and clearing procedures, had been passed on to importers, he said.

“The situation has become pathetic and cumbersome and there is need for a speedy solution because we cannot be talking about the same thing in every meeting we hold with KPA and other stakeholders,” Mr Kiyemba said.

Key roads in country set for major upgrade

Massive construction work is going on at the Namanga junction along the busy Nairobi-Mombasa highway. This, according to the Government, is just the beginning of modern state-of-the-art roads in the country.

The plan is to have Kenyans enjoy the country’s first modern interchange by January next year.
It is expected that by then the wananchi will start appreciating the reason for the controversial demolition of various establishments on road reserves a few years back.
And with plans to start the rebuild Thika Road into a 10-lane super highway in September, more demolitions are anticipated. Transport experts estimate that billions of shillings will be registered as losses when properties are brought down.
Some of the establishments said to be on the way of the super highway include Nakumatt Thika Road, Maximum Miracle Centre, several petrol stations, car bazaars and entertainment spots.
The Government has already received Sh18.5 billion from the African Development Bank for the 45-kilometre project between Nairobi and Thika.

Overpass bridges

The construction will see the highway, which carries more than 70,000 vehicles per day, have all its roundabouts and traffic lights replaced with inter-links and overpass bridges.
This project provides a critical link on the Northern Corridor route to eastern and northern Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia and certainly has positive implications on regional and international trade.

The roundabouts on Uhuru Highway will also be replaced.
The interchange at the Namanga junction comprises a dual double-lane carriageway, one for use by Mombasa-bound traffic, and the other by those headed to Nairobi. Two underpasses will divert traffic entering or leaving the capital from either Namanga or Eastlands, off the usually busy Mombasa highway.

The Sh4.3 billion project being undertaken by two international road construction firms – SBI International Holdings AG Bachtrasse56 and CH-8200 Schaffhausen, will be the first of its kind in Africa and among the best in the world on completion.
The interchange is part of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the Machakos turn-off junction road improvement to reduce congestion on Mombasa highway.
The two underpasses, to be well lit, will serve to divert the thousands of vehicles entering Nairobi from Namanga and other adjacent areas or leaving the Eastlands neighbourhoods, from the main dual carriageway.

This, experts believe, will render the heavy traffic jams on Mombasa road every day a thing of the past, saving the nation several man-hours currently lost on the roads.
The contractors are also expanding Mombasa road to a dual carriageway at the Athi River section, while at the same time, raising it to create room for the underpasses.

The underpasses will occupy about 500 metres on each side of the highway. At the centre of the oval underpass, trees and flowers will be planted to provide a green landscape, with an amphitheatre inside to give one not only a perfect, but also a safe view of the surroundings.
Two-metre high red fountains will also be erected on both sides of the dual carriageway, sandwiched between the two underpasses.
Both the dual carriageway and the two underpasses will be well-lit to enhance motorists’ visibility both during the day and night.

Add the icing

And to add the icing to the cake, three model public schools will also be put up next to the interchange, showcasing the art of modern technology. They will comprise a nursery, a primary and a secondary school.
To underscore the Government’s commitment to ensuring the projects are completed within schedule, Roads minister Kipkalya Kones has warned that the ministry will proceed with any demolitions standing in the way of the road works.
“I think people have to decide whether they want roads or they want houses built on the way of the roads,” he warned, referring to protests from private developers and business people who have seen their multi-million-shilling investments brought down to clear the way for this and many other road projects lined up for construction.

The works on the 33-kilometre JKIA to Machakos turn-off started in June 2006.
The 10.5-kilometre section between JKIA and Athi River will be upgraded to a dual carriageway to ease traffic flow, considering the heavy number of motorists moving to and from the airport every day.

A new weighbridge for cargo transit trucks will be built at Mlolongo, complete with ample parking space for the hundreds of long distance trucks waiting to be weighed.
This is designed to eliminate the traffic snarl-ups at Mlolongo trading centre largely caused by trucks waiting to be weighed before proceeding with their journeys.
A service road will also be built on either side of the dual carriageway to cater for stationary vehicles, while the dilapidated bridge at Stoney Athi is being upgraded as works on the interchange and the dual carriageway go on.

According to Ministry of Roads spokesman Richard Abura, nearly half of the workmanship on the project is complete.
The project is funded by the World Bank through the International Development Association and the Kenya Government.

In February, the then Roads and Public Works minister John Michuki toured the project and expressed satisfaction with progress made on the construction of the dual carriageway.
Mr Michuki noted that 25.3 per cent of the work had been done by then and urged the contractors to uphold the quality on the remaining sections of the highway.

The plan is part of the Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Strategy. The northern corridor serves Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with all the countries using it as an entry point from the port of Mombasa.
Other works in the project, the minister said, were provisions for minor drainage structures and an axle load control facility at Mlolongo.

The Government has embarked on the improvement of the corridor following perceived competition from the Central Corridor which originates from the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam. But the landlocked countries have kept away from the Tanzania route as it is longer than the Kenyan one.
However, following the cutting off of transport in the country during the post-election violence, some of the countries are said to have been in talks with the Tanzanian Government over the use of the corridor.

This is said to have sent the Kenyan authorities into panic mode, leading to Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere touring the region in March to reassure his counterparts of the progress being made.

Major problem

The massive expansion and reconstruction of roads is aimed at reducing traffic snarl-ups that have become a norm in the city. The Government also hopes to improve the entire transportation system in the country, both for human and cargo traffic.
Traffic congestion has been a major problem for the capital, with every Local Government minister and consecutive city councils coming up with plans get rid of the snarl-ups.
It is estimated that traffic jams cost the Kenyan economy upto Sh300 million per day in wasted man-hours, wear and tear and high fuel costs.

Transport experts say that while traffic has expanded by up to 300 per cent in a decade, the roads have not. Some say that by the end of 2002, only 20 per cent of the country’s roads were in good condition. And it is taking years to overcome the backlog with about half of the network still in poor shape, six years later, while the booming economy puts even more cars on the roads. ++++++++++++++
Story by OLIVER MATHENGE and JOE KIARIE

Publication Date: 5/16/2008

Avoid internal wrangles, ministers told

Published on May 11, 2008, 12:00 am
By Sunday Standard Team

The two-day bonding meeting ended amid ministers fears that internal competition and unorthodox manoeuvres as politicians prepare for 2012 General Election could be the Grand Coalition’s Achilles heel.
Sources at the closed-door bonding session said ministers were in agreement that the grand coalition was a compromise and there was need to contain harmful internal competition.

Internal Security Minister Prof George Saitoti touched off a sensitive subject when he talked of politicians who spent most of their time working for the downfall of the others.
He said some politicians try to gain advantage over others by working to bring them down through hate speech.
"Let us be each others’ keeper and protector. If we spend most of our time plotting the downfall of our colleagues because we want to be seen in good light in 2012, then this coalition will not survive the test of time," Saitoti is said to have warned.
The source said Saitoti warned against hate speech and character assassination, especially during elective sessions.

Saitoti was commenting on a question by Transport minister Mr Chirau Mwakwere. He wanted to know measures the Internal Security ministry had put in place to protect Cabinet ministers against potentially damaging allegations.
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, in his closing speech, urged members of the Government to shun parochial politics and be guided by the national good.
The ministers resolved to tone down on hate utterances, especially during by-elections campaigns, to ensure cohesion.

The ministers also resolved to read from the same script on all issues of governance.
"If we support each other and come to the defence of one another in public, then we cannot go wrong at all and the coalition will definitely survive the five years," Saitoti said during his presentation on protective security.

Kalonzo said going by the newfound spirit, Kenya was headed for great times if leaders put aside their differences for the sake of the greater purpose of serving the people.
The members also came up with radical proposals that are likely to have positive ramifications to the national fabric that had been ripped apart by the bungled 2007 General Election.

Doubts

Political pundits have equally expressed concern that the Kibaki Succession would render the coalition unworkable as politicians take positions ahead of the 2012 elections.
And as the two-day induction course came to a close, proposals on how to achieve national cohesion were made.
Some key proposals were legislation against anti-nationalist agitation, like the one witnessed during last year’s elections, and hate speech.

Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Dr Ludeki Chweya suggested the introduction of political pilgrimage, where parliamentary candidates vie in constituencies outside "home" province.
But Mwakwere said his suggestion was utopian.

Poll check plea to be heard

POLITICS

An application for scrutiny and recount of all the documents used in Matuga election will be heard today before Mombasa judge Joseph Sergon.

The application, which has been filed by an aggrieved voter, Mr Ayub Juma Mwakesi, through his lawyer Mohammed Balala, seeks a scrutiny of all ballots papers, votes cast and counterfoils.
The petitioner is challenging the election of Matuga MP, and Transport minister Chirau Mwakwere.

Story by EUNICE MACHUHI

Publication Date: 5/9/2008

Lokichogio airstrip to be fully commercialized

Written By:Bernard Ndong ,

Posted: Fri, May 09, 2008

__________________

The Lokichogio airstrip is soon to be a fully-fledged commercial airport.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has officially launched a modern Air control tower at the airstrip at a cost of 110 million shillings.

The minister for transport Chirau Ali Mwakwere says the new tower is part of the ministry's grand plan to modernize air infrastructure in Kenya.
The Airstrip that is strategically located near the Kakuma refugee camp is frequented by flights of Humanitarian organizations such as the World Food Program who transport relief food and supplies to the camp and to Southern Sudan.

Mwakwere who presided over the launch says commercializing the airport was inevitable.
Mwakwere's sentiments were shared by both the Minister for Labour John Munyes and Kenya Airports Authority Managing Director George Muhoho.

Munyes says local residents would benefit more if they were part of the workforce but cited worry that the project may be threatened by recent insecurity incidents.

++++++++++++++++

Sh114m facelift for Lokichogio airport

Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has commissioned a new control tower with a modern air traffic control system at Lokichogio Airport at a cost of Sh114 million.

Transport Minister Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere commissioned the equipment, which is expected to improve provision of air navigation services for the development of Northern Kenya.
Speaking at the launch of the airport on Thursday, Mwakwere said the tower will improve accessibility into Southern Sudan, and also improve safety of Kenya’s airspace.
The completion of the control tower reflects the changing times of the Lokichogio airport, which supports relief operations in Southern Sudan.

"This airport has greatly contributed to the success of the relief food operations in Southern Sudan, provision of food in refugees camps, both inside and outside Sudan and evacuation of victims of war," said the minister.

"The Government is committed to opening up the Northern part of Kenya and improve the lives of people in the region. As the situation in Southern Sudan continues to improve and traffic at the airport declines, there is need to ensure that strategies are put in place to ensure sustainability of the airport by replacing relief efforts with commercial cargo, tourists and passenger traffic," added Mwakwere.

++++++++++++++

SOURCES: The Saturday Standard
http://www.eastandard.net/business/?id=1143986310&cid=14
Published on May 10, 2008, 12:00 am
By Brian Adero

Atwoli fiasco should not be repeated

LETTERS:

>>>>>>>>

The speech by Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary-General, Mr Francis Atwoli, at this year’s Labour Day celebrations was too long, rambling and full of political gymnastics, innuendo and sycophancy.

The day was meant to celebrate workers’ rights, not subject people to the torture of a long speech under the hot sun.

I couldn’t believe it when Atwoli decided to fire a salvo at Transport minister, Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere. By advising President Kibaki to transfer Environment minister Mr John Michuki to the ministry amounted to calling Mwakwere incompetent. Whether this is true or not, there are better ways of presenting such issues.

The days of ‘Baba’ are long gone. It is unfortunate to see that one of the people expected to agitate for workers’ rights is the one showing high levels of sycophancy.
Atwoli has lost track: Perhaps it is time he is replaced at Cotu.

+++++++++++++++++++

Published on May 5, 2008, 12:00 am

Kimanthi Musumbi,
Eldoret

Danger lurking at railway crossings

The existing signs at railway crossing points were installed over a century ago. They have never been attended to despite regular repairs on the rail, writes John Ochieng.

Rail and road infrastructure in the country commonly diverge and rarely converge.Even at the points of convergence, minimal friction has been recorded since the advent of the twin transport sectors.
However, prospects of a looming disaster at the intersection points due to sheer negligence or lack of visible warning signs are high. The country could soon be treated to gory and tragic scenes arising from accidents involving trains and cars and pedestrians due to lack of barriers or warning signs.
Across section of analysts and industry players paint a picture of gloom if nothing is done, warning that the situation was tantamount to courting a disaster.

A survey by Transport in Western and Coastal provinces where the railway line straddles confirmed fears expressed by motorists and pedestrians. The already dangerous situation is compounded by lack of both railways traffic officers and traffic police to lower the barriers and stop motorists whenever trains approach to facilitate smooth passage.

Most of the existing signs are either too dilapidated to serve the purpose or are clearly invisible for motorists raising the probability of an accident. The state of the existing signs only serve to prove that they were put up over a century ago and have never been repaired despite frequent works on roads crossing the railway lines. Those who had a close shave say authorities should act and avert disasters waiting to happen.

Many are the times when trains have missed hitting cars by a whisker largely due to lack of the signs to facilitate communications between captains of the two automobiles.
"The other day a passenger train missed an oil tanker narrowly here and we all scampered for safety, I shudder at what would have happened, it is scary," says Mr Jamleck Owede, in reference to a recent incident at the Kicomi railways crossing along the Kisumu -Busia road where he plies his trade.
"It is by the grace of God that it has not happened but am afraid it could if matters are left as they are," Owede adds.
These sentiments are shared by thousands of others who have witnessed the similar happenings in Nakuru, Kisumu, Butere, parts of Nairobi and Voi.
Like in the developed world where infrastructure development is key, Nairobi, which has the heaviest traffic in the country, is largely safe from such incidences due to the presence of fly-overs at major railways crossings.

Past disasters notwithstanding, experts say it is only a matter of time before the country records an accident of catastrophic proportions. They say the affected can hold the Government and transport service providers accountable.
"It is the responsibility of the state through its traffic wing and service providers to ensure the signs are in place to warn motorists of an intersection ahead whether a train is crossing or not," says Mr Eric Mokasa, a transport consultant in Nairobi.

He reckons that motorists are obligated by law to slow down while approaching railways crossings and that is only possible with the presence of a prominent warning sign.
"Trains do not have emergency brakes like vehicles thus the requirement that they proceed at crossings while vehicles stop and this is only possible when there is proper communication. Lack of it puts both the trains and vehicles at risk," he argues.
Mokasa recommends the construction of fly-overs at all railways crossings as the only sure way of solving the problem. But even with the grim situation on the already troubled transport sectors, authorities could only point accusing fingers at each other over their failure to instal the crucial signs.

When contacted, the Transport Ministry admits the situation is grave but blames it on road contractors who have failed to restore the signs after removing them during their work.
"Most of the signs are destroyed by road contractors but the ministry is consulting with stakeholders to ensure the matter is handled because safety and efficient transport is our priority," Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere told Transport.
Roads Minister, Mr Kipkalia Kones was, however, non-committal saying his docket was only concerned with constructing roads and marking the signs. "We deal with roads and not rail," he said.
Rift Valley Railways (RVR), the concession running the Kenya-Uganda railways said marking the signs at railway crossings was part of its rail infrastructural development plan that they will undertake soon.

"We inherited a dilapidated railway system and so were the signs but we are going to rehabilitate them. It is part of our business. Safety is our concern and we cannot compromise on that," said RVR managing director, Roy Puffet. Even as the authorities procrastinate, danger continues lurking on the sidelines, waiting to strike, without warning.