Last year in May, the coordinator of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Kasingye Kyamugambi while engaging different stakeholders at Golf Course Hotel in Kampala made an assurance that the $2.3b project would kick-start in September same year.
He however expressed fears that government was still in negotiations with funders, EximBank of China to secure a loan and also talking to neighbouring Kenya to extend Kisumu route to Malaba border.
The attendants after Kasingye’s presentation expressed pessimism on whether multi-billion venture would yield fruits.
As promised, in September there were no signs of SGR kicking off. The year ended.
SGR officials again anticipated that ‘by the grace of God’ the project would start in March this year.
It was until July when reports began filtering in how Kyamugambi had quietly left his position and had immediately been replaced by Perez Wambura, a former chief engineer at Uganda Railways Corporation.
Kyamugambi who has since been mute, we learnt returned to private practice as a consultant.
Inside Story
Reports later emerged that Kyamugambi’s exit was prompted by a bitter row at Works Ministry after officials accused his administration of inflating the cost of SGR by $600million.
He again chose not to respond to these allegations.
But this website has landed on fresh information indicating that whereas it could be true Kyamugambi and ilk inflated the cost, he was asked by State House aides occupying powerful positions to double the inflated figure to which he protested.
“The women in State House who you know very well understood that Kyamugambi had given false figures to the President. They held him at ransom insisting that he either chooses to increase the figures or they report him,” said a source in StateHouse, preferring to withhold names of the powerful female aides.
“Indeed he was reported to the President,” a source added.
But President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni rejected to act because he didn’t want to derail the project as it had reached takeoff stages having fully negotiated with the Chinese.
Deadly Move
Having given them a deaf ear, these women in State House who are publicly known as fighters orchestrated a deadly move to have Kyamugambi sacked.
We established that the women launched a hunt for top official government who has connections with a Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi Insaat VE Sanayi As, which was hired by Tanzanian government to design and construct the country’s railway line.
Tanzania paid the contractor $1.9bn for the 422 km high electric railway line.
Former Electoral Commission (EC) chairman Eng. Badru Kiggundu emerged as the best candidate who could fully engage these Turks.
The statehouse women facilitated Kiggundu to fly first class to Turkey to negotiate with the company and later return with a report.
In his report tabled before the President, Kiggundu said the Turkish Firm had agreed to design and construct Uganda’s SGR at a lower cost compared to what Kyamugambi had settled for.
“To prove his point Kiggundu interested Museveni to tour Tanzania and see the wonders YapiMerkezi Insaat VE Sanayi As was doing,” a source said.
The President mid year visited Tanzania and held talks with his counterpart John Magufuli about the progress of the project.
“When Museveni returned from Tanzania he asked Kyamugambi to gracefully quit the job,”a source added.
