SGR

The Supreme Court has today ruled that the Sh500 billion contract between Kenya and China for the construction of the Standard Gauge Railways (SGR) was legally executed, bringing to a close a long-standing dispute over the project execution.

Five supreme court judges unanimously ruled that the execution of the multi-billion project did not violate any procurement laws.

“The SGR procurement was undertaken as a government-to-government contract hence exempt from the provisions of the Public Procurement Disposal Act, 2005 by virtue of section 6(1) of the said Act,” they ruled.

The SGR has been a legacy project of former President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Court of Appeal rules contract for China-funded Standard Gauge Railway illegal

The Court of Appeal had in 2020 ruled that the procurement process for the SGR construction was flawed.

Kenyan activist Okiya Omtatah and the Law Society of Kenya, an association of practicing advocates, brought the suit in 2014 in a bid to stop the construction of the SGR. They argued the railway was a public project that should have been subject to a fair, competitive and transparent procurement process.

Kenya Railways and CRBC defended the contract, saying the Kenyan government had negotiated a financing agreement with Exim Bank of China for two loans, each for US$1.6 billion, to support the SGR project.

Access to information

In 2022, The High Court in Mombasa ordered the government to provide two activists with agreements relating to the construction of the Sh450 billion standard gauge railway (SGR) line project.
Public participation

Activists Khelef Khalifa and Ms Wanjiru Gikonyo sought to have all contracts, agreements and studies related to the construction and operations of the SGR made public. They argued that keeping the documents confidential violates the law and discourages transparency in governance.

Mr. Khalifa and Ms Gikonyo argued that they were concerned that such a heavy capital-intensive project with a wide-ranging impact on public resources and citizens’ livelihoods was undertaken with no public participation.

SGR is the largest capital-intensive infrastructure project in the country to date. The Nairobi Expressway, which President Uhuru Kenyatta launched before he left office, cost sh 88 billion.