THE president of Kenya, Dr William Ruto, officially launched construction of a new 12.5km metre-gauge commuter line in Nairobi on December 15.
The Shillings 1.2bn ($US 7.76m) line will run from Riruta on the existing railway west via Karen and Embulbul to Ngong, on the western outskirts of the city. The new line will extend the network to 165km.
The line is expected to transport 10,000 people daily, helping to ease road congestion, and will be built by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) Kenya. In the future the line could be extended east to serve Kiserian and Ongata Rongai.
Ruto says the new line will be able to halve commuters’ travel expenses, as well as create new jobs for young people in particular.
However, only days after the launch of construction, two Maasai clans claimed ownership the land where the new railway is being built. The Keekonyokie demands that work be halted until the clan has been consulted.
“We only donated the land to the government to use as a veterinary services and research centre, a project that ended many years ago, therefore, it should be reverted back to us,” the Kajiado West MP Mr George Sunguya, who claims that the land belongs to his constituency, told The Standard on December 19.
Meanwhile, the MP for Kajiado North, Mr Onesmus Ngogoyo, maintained that the land belongs to the government, lashing out at the Maasai for their alleged motives to stall construction.
“We cannot stop a government project because of a few individuals who are just driven by greed,” he told the newspaper. “We know them very well. They want to divide this government land amongst themselves,” he told the paper.
As of late December, it remained unclear whether the dispute will interrupt construction of the new railway.
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