Reprieve For Ruto As High Court Lifts Ban On Riruta-Ngong Railway Construction
The High Court has lifted the interim orders halting the construction of the Ksh11.5 billion Riruta-Ngong Commuter Gauge Railway Project, pending the hearing of a petition challenging its legality and procurement process.
This follows a petition that was filed during the ruling of January 20, temporarily suspending the project filed by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah and Constitutional Lawyer Benard Micere Mugo.
In the same ruling, the court also halted disbursements from the Railway Development Levy Fund (RDLF) toward the project until legal questions around funding and process are resolved.
Senator Okiya Omtatah and his team, in the case, had a constitutional and financial challenge against the project and its funding framework, where the centre of the case is the RDLF.
They argued that the levy, its enabling statutes, and accompanying regulations are unconstitutional and should be declared null and void.
The Senator also argued that the government did not obtain required parliamentary approval, conduct robust public participation, or subject the railway allocations to transparent scrutiny before commencing work and releasing funds.
Further, the petitioners questioned the use of the fund, citing what they described as a systemic misapplication of the RDLF under the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act.
Omtatah and his team further challenged the approval, commissioning, and financing of the project.
They argued that it does not qualify for national government loan guarantees and that its implementation violates constitutional principles governing public finance, including transparency, accountability, fiscal responsibility, and parliamentary oversight.
Before recent legal setbacks stopped the ambitious project’s progress, the government had commissioned the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to actively build the railway line.
The CRBC is the same company that built the Standard Gauge Railway linking Mombasa to Nairobi, as well as the Nairobi Expressway.
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The project consists of four lines of stations: Riruta, Karen, Bulbul, and Ngong, which serve the southern corridor and split off from the current Metre Gauge Railway (MGR) at Riruta, close to Lenana School.
The project is intended to transport more than 10,000 passengers every day and will significantly reduce peak-hour travel times from two hours to about thirty minutes, alleviating Nairobi’s ongoing traffic.
As part of a bigger 165km modernisation scheme connecting to Talanta Sports City for events like the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), future phases will include expansions from Ngong to Kiserian and back to Nairobi via Ong’ata Rongai.
This comes at a time when the World Bank approved a Ksh65 billion loan on March 5, to be repaid by January 31, 2033, which aims to finance the Nairobi-Thika Commuter Railway project.
Reprieve For Ruto As High Court Lifts Ban On Riruta-Ngong Railway Construction
