Ruto, Museveni to Launch Kisumu–Malaba SGR Extension Project
By President William Ruto is expected to officially launch the planned extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Kisumu to Malaba on Friday, alongside President Yoweri Museveni. The project marks a key step toward regional rail connectivity between Kenya and its neighbors.
Speaking ahead of the launch, President Ruto said Uganda will extend the railway from Malaba through Kampala and onward to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), creating a continuous regional transport corridor.
“Because we want to establish the SGR not just as a transport corridor, we want it to be a logistics infrastructure development. In Kisumu, we are going to build a logistics hub for business,” Ruto said.
The SGR project began with the Mombasa–Nairobi line, launched by former President Uhuru Kenyatta at a cost of KSh 327 billion (approximately US$3.6 billion at the time) for the 472-kilometer stretch. The railway has since been extended to Naivasha.
The extension from Naivasha through Kisumu to Malaba is estimated to cost Kenyan taxpayers about KSh 500 billion (approximately US$3.8 billion). Once completed, the line is expected to ease traffic congestion along the busy Nairobi–Kisumu corridor while improving the movement of goods and passengers across the region.
The project is also seen as a strategic investment in regional trade, linking Kenya’s port of Mombasa to inland markets in Uganda and the DRC.