Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has revealed that the government plans to spend up to Ksh400 billion on extending the Standard Gauge Railway to the Uganda border, a move that is expected to have significant implications for taxpayers.

Speaking during an interview with a local media station, Chirchir disclosed that the ambitious infrastructure project that will link Kenya’s existing SGR network to Uganda’s railway system necessitates significant financial mobilisation.

“It’s a big project, it will cost us anything up to Ksh400 billion, and we need to do that because we are linking up to Uganda; Uganda are already working on that side,” Chirchir stated.

Funding plan

The CS announced that the government is seeking parliamentary approval to amend sections of the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act to enable the mobilisation of funds for the project.

According to Chirchir, this would allow the government to sell a portion of the Railway Development Levy Fund to finance the SGR extension.

“We are doing a bit of going to Parliament to amend some sections of the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act to allow us to be able to sell a portion of that levy,” he explained.

The CS further revealed that the government aims to raise approximately USD 3.9 billion (approximately Ksh507 billion) to complete the railway link to Uganda.

“We want to raise about 3.9 billion US dollars to be able to build that link, and a lot of work has been done,” Chirchir said.

Chirchir expressed optimism about the project’s prospects, describing it as one of several “exciting programmes” the government plans to launch in the new year.

“So as we open the new year, we are opening with very exciting programmes,” he stated.

Project commencing date

The announcement comes barely a month after President William Ruto confirmed that the SGR extension would begin in January 2026.

Speaking during the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) founding members’ dinner on November 15, 2025, the president said the project was part of the party’s founding manifesto, and he is committed to honouring it.

“This railway thing, this SGR, it was in the original ODM manifesto, and that’s why I must move the railway from Naivasha to Kisumu to Malaba. By the way, I am going to begin to move it by January,” he declared.