UGANDAN REFUSAL TO AGREE WITH KENYA RAILWAYS EARNS RIFT VALLEY RAILWAYS TIME
(Posted 11th April 2017)
Kenya Railways, shaken by the refusal of their Ugandan colleagues at Uganda Railways to join in terminating the Rift Valley Railways concession, has given the clearest indication yet that they will not immediately proceed with executing the termination, in part caused by a Kenyan court giving RVR at least 30 days protection. Kenya Railways was reportedly rattled when Uganda Railways openly disagreed with them after a termination letter was served on RVR, after in bilateral talks already being told that the Ugandan side would seek other alternatives to help RVR reach concession compliance territory again.
It is disputed if a unilateral termination does even hold legal water and could tie up Kenya Railways for years in the notoriously slow courts of Kenya.
Hence has the company now signalled they will hold back any action for three months, giving major RVR shareholder Qualaa Holdings from Egypt the time to complete discussions over the acquisition of their holdings by an American investment firm.
Kenya Railways stood accused trying to scuttle this deal when it unilaterally served the termination letter, lending yet more credibility to claims that the entire affair is politically motivated to get a potential rival for rail transport out of the way before SGR operations start by mid year. This will also give RVR the option to claim for compensation over loss of business which is enshrined in the concession deal.
Links to previous articles relevant to this latest development are shown below.
https://atcnews.org/2017/02/13/is-it-do-or-die-for-rift-valley-railways/
https://atcnews.org/2017/04/06/rift-valley-railways-gets-termination-letter-from-kenya-railways/
