Neglect of plans to modernise the Nairobi-Nanyuki-Isiolo railway line has chocked hopes to revamp the economies of Central and Upper Eastern regions.
The relegation of the promise made by retired President Kibaki (2002-2013) is such that is it does not feature in the Big Four legacy agenda of his successor, President Uhuru Kenyatta.
A glimpse of hopes for the project being allocated funds by the National Treasury appeared with the allocation in September 2019 of sh 6.9 billion for completion of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) internal depot facilities at Naivasha.
Conventional expectation was completion of SGR would free up state policy and resource management assets to give the Nairobi-Nanyuki-Isiolo rail stretch the attention it needed.
The hopes for modernization of the 240 KM Nairobi-Nanyuki first phase pledged in the Vision 2030 Flagship projects seems to have been buried with its most articulate champion, late Nyeri governor, Dr Wahome Gakuru.
Dr Gakuru was among architects of Vision 2030 framework (2008) whose over arching thrust was to accelerate Kenya’s economic growth to achieve middle income industrialized status by the year 2030.
The gusto and excitement late Gakuru had injected in championing the project when he was elected Nyeri governor in August 2017 has since fallen off from political and public discourse locally and nationally.
Besides injecting new life into the agricultural and livestock economies of the Central and Upper Eastern regions by ferrying farm inputs and manufacured products inland, it was also expected to ease transport of livestock and farm produce, iron ore from Laikipia to steel manufacturing plants in Nairobi.
This was to easing cost and logistical kinks associated with road transport of the same.
The hopes for the Jubilee government injecting a new economic stimulation into the region were triggered by a meeting of seven governors from the central region who attended the inaugural brainstorming conference held in Nanyuki in October 2017 hosted by Laikipia governor, Mr Nderitu Muriithi.
Nanyuki deliberate
Nairobi Governor, Mr Mike Sonko, dispatched his then deputy, Mr Polycarp Igathe, to represent him.
The choice of Nanyuki was deliberate: It is the officially designated upcountry dry port for supply of oil products for Central Kenya and Upper Eastern region, and ferrying iron ore from Laikipia back to steel industries to Nairobi.
In
the National infrastructure Development Master Plan, the 240
kilometer Nairobi-Nanyuki railway line is expected to replace road
transport for heavy cargo between the capital city, Central and Upper
Eastern regions.
An expanded oil depot already in place in Nanyuki was designated a distribution hub for Mt Kenya region, with links to Isiolo crude oil refineries section of Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor’s Product Oil Pipeline facilities .
Besides Muriithi, Gakuru and Igathe, other governors in attendance at the Nanyuki conference to included Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu), Mwangi Wa Iria (Murang’a), Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga), Francis Kimemia (Nyandarua) and Mohammed Kuti (Isiolo).
The project had been estimated to cost ksh 25 billion undertaken by Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) and the National Government.
Gakuru orphan
Dr
Gakuru was the most articulate champion of the project and his
departure seems to have left the project orphaned since the governors
have never met again to review progress.
However, a source
at KRC who cannot be quoted as he’s not authorized to speak on
behalf of the state corporation said refurbishment on the
Nairobi-Nanyuki railway line could only commence after completion of
the Standard Gaude Railways (SGR).
The cabinet approved some sh 6.9 billion allocation from the Consolidated Fund for the final phase of the SGR internal container deport and industrial park facilities in Naivasha in September 2019.
Colonial Economy
The
Nairob-Nanyuki railway line that was built around 1913 by the British
Colonial Government terminates in Nanyuki Town. It was designed to
ferry farm inputs and produce from the White Highlands linking the
British Protectorate settler economy improve with markets in Europe
through Mombasa port.
The British Colonial Government had
established sisal plantations in Juja and Thika in Kiambu County way
back in 1914.Due to high demand for the product in Europe, the
railway line was necessary.
Like sisal, coffee was another leading cash crop. It was grown in large scale near Kiambu town and its neighborhood of Ruiru.
The coffee plantations extended to parts of Kandara and Makuyu in Murang’a County while other estates were established in Nyeri County.
They
include parts of King’ong’o and Nyeri Hill Farms.
The
railway line made it easy to transport to the two cash crops to the
Port of Mombasa for onward export to Europe.
Then there were herds of beef cattle, White Settlers reared in the expansive ranches of Laikipia. The herds had to be transported to the Kenya Meat Commission in Athi River where the Nairobi-
Mombasa Railway line passes. Europe was the main market for the meat and therefore after packaging it at the abattoir, the same railway line would be used to ferry the product to Mombasa for export.
About 30 kilometers from Nanyuki is Timau, a colonial commercial township in Meru County where the white settlers owned big wheat farms that fed the export market.
Before Kenya Railways Corporation suspended transport services on the Nairobi-Nanyuki route in the late 1990’s, farmers also used it to transport agricultural goods to markets in Nairobi and Mombasa.
Farmers especially those who grow fresh produce like French beans, tomatoes and different types of vegetables span huge profits. They transported their produce through Karatina, Sagana andMaragua railway stations to the market in Mombasa.
“Some of us managed to buy Nissan matatus as the business was so good since transporting tomatoes by train ensured the crop got the market while still fresh” Joseph Kariuki recalls.
Transporting vegetables by trucks, he says, is very expensive and cumbersome. The long time taken on the road exposes the crops to rot before they reach the market.
With another market in Isiolo and the northern towns of Marsabit and Moyale, the agriculture sector in Mount Kenya region was expected to improve.
Decongesting Nairobi
During colonial times, locations that served as stopovers for freight trains grew to become busy centres of commerce. This is how Ruiru, which is still a station for commuter trains grew to become an industrial urban hub.
The same case applies to towns like Maragua, Sagana, and Karatina. The three towns which are in Murang’a, Kirinyaga and Nyeri respectively were the main stations for transporting goods and passengers from Nairobi. Likewise, Kiganjo Trading Centre in Nyeri was another big stopover.
Business in the four market towns thrived for years on end until the late 1990s. When the Kenya Railways Corporation abandoned the rail transport along the Nairobi Nanyuki route the towns and region witnessed a downturn in economic fortunes.
Saganaand Kiganjo were among the big railway stations where Kenya Railways had built staff houses.
Sagana is home to Kenya Planters Corporations coffee mills and the train used to transport parchment to warehouses in Nairobi. Today, the town has very little activity. Kiganjo which houses the National Cereals and Produce (NCPB) stores as well as the Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) factory has largely gone to seed.
Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) had built several stores for housing wholesale and retail goods for the business users in Maragua, Karatina and Sagana.
But after collapse of the rail road, such goods are now transported by trucks to the individual business premises of a trader. And the go-downs KNTC had built are decaying away with hundreds of former employees out of work.
Nanyuki was badly hit with major thriving businesses in the town closing down.
“We had petroleum depots for big companies like Esso, Caltex and Shell. Fuel tankers would assemble in Nanyuki for refilling before transporting fuel to the towns of Isiolo,Marsabit, Moyale, Meruand Nyeri,” Mr Gitonga recalls.
Besides, cattle from ranches in Laikipia, Samburu, Isiolo and Marsabit were ferried by Lorries to Nanyuki for transport to the Kenya Meat Commission by train.
“These days such livestock and other goods are transported by road and if the railway is revived, hotels in Nanyuki would swing back to life just like in the old days. This will create job opportunities for our youths,” Mr Gitonga explained.
