Kenya’s Infrastructural Question

Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), the country’s largest infrastructure project since its 1963 independence, was initially seen as a mutually advantageous endeavour for both Kenya and China. For China, the SGR complemented its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while President Uhuru Kenyatta viewed it as a monumental infrastructure development that would solidify his legacy. This article critically assesses Kenyatta’s infrastructure legacy, with a particular focus on the parliamentary transport committee’s proposal to renegotiate the SGR loan terms with China. Drawing on both secondary and primary sources, including the SGR loan agreements, the analysis indicates that the project was driven more by political interests than by genuine developmental needs. Kenyatta kept the SGR deal’s details confidential and bypassed important oversight institutions. The leaked Auditor General’s letter claiming that Mombasa Port had been used as collateral for the railway, raised concerns about a potential debt trap scenario with China. The article concludes that the SGR was primarily a Kenyan initiative, with the ensuing debt distress attributable to poor decision-making processes within the president’s executive office, thereby necessitating calls for renegotiation of the loan terms.