Rwanda is still interested in the Standard Gauge Railway linking Kigali to Kampala, but priority is given to the Kigali-Rusumo-Isaka-Dar es Salaam line following a decision by the Ugandan government to put SGR plans on hold.

Deteriorating relations between Uganda and Rwanda have dealt a blow to Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP), leading to the stalling of key SGR projects and other ICT infrastructure projects.

Kigali announced last week that construction works on the 571km Kigali-Isaka SGR line will start in December, meaning that the Kampala-Bihaga-Mirama-Kigali is now on hold.

Rwanda’s plans to start work on the SGR line linking Kigali to Dar es Salaam Port in December coincided with reports that Uganda had put on hold plans to construct the $12.8 billion SGR line linking Kampala to the Kenyan border due to financing challenges.

The 14th NCIP summit took place in Nairobi at the end of June, and was attended by President Paul Kagame, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta.

They agreed to fast track the financing projects. However, observers say tensions between Rwanda and Uganda have affected the progress of the 273km Malaba-Kampala section with Uganda losing interest in the line.

With Uganda not making progress on the section linking Uganda to Kenya, the Kampala-Bihanga-Mirama-Kigali section is technically not possible, since it largely depends on the Malaba-Kampala section.

Rwanda’s Minister of Infrastructure Claver Gatete said Rwanda remains interested in the line linking Kigali to Kampala and Nairobi but its success largely depends on what Kampala does.

“We are still interested in both lines, Kampala-Kigali and Kigali-Dar es Salaam, but if Uganda doesn’t make progress, it means we will be unable to proceed on our side,” Mr Gatete told Rwanda Today.

adding that under the arrangement, Uganda was supposed to embark on the Kampala-Bihanga-Mirama section before Kigali works on the Kigali-Mirama section.

According to Me Gatete, Tanzanian officials are expected in Kigali to finalise talks on construction of the 571km line linking Isaka to Kigali, including discussions on financing.