Uganda – Ministerial Meeting for the Development of the Standard Gauge Railway

1. At the invitation of Hon. Katumba Wamala, Minister of Works and Transport of theRepublic of Uganda and chair of the Cluster of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Development, the Joint Ministerial meeting for the development of the StandardGauge Railway was held on 26th May 2023 in Kampala,
2. The meeting was attended by Hon. Kipchumba Murkomen, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Roads and Transport of the Republic of Kenya, Dr. Enest Nsabirnana, Minister ofInfrastructure, Republic of Rwanda, and Hon. Simon Mijak Mijok, Minister of Roads and Bridges and Acting Minister of Transport of the Republic of South Sudan.
3. The Ministers reviewed the status of implementation of the Directives from the 14thNorthern Corridor Integration Projects Summit that was held in Nairobi in June 2018 and noted the progress so far made on the joint efforts to develop a seamless Standard GaugeRailway among NCIP member
4. The Ministers expressed gratitude towards the strong support from their respective Headsof State in regard to the regional SGR Program They further reiterated the commitment of their respective countries in the development of the Standard Gauge Railway that will facilitate the economic development of the region by reducing the cost of transport so as to contribute to reduction in the cost of doing business and making the region more competitive.
5. The Ministers welcomed the completion of the Mombasa­ Nairobi- Naivasha SGR Section. They also welcomed the progress made towards the preparations for the construction of the Naivasha-Malaba; Malaba-Kampala Kigali and Tororo­ Gulu-Nimule to Juba sections. It was noted that construction of the Naivasha-Malaba; Malaba-Kampala SGR sections is scheduled to start the next Financial Year 2023/2024. For the Kampala-Kigali section, and Tororo-Gulu-Nimule sections, the feasibility studies were completed, while the studies are ongoing on the Nimule- Juba section.
6. The Ministers agreed to invite the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to join the SGR Cluster under the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIPs).
7. The Ministers commended the Republic of Uganda for convening the Joint Ministerial meeting for the development of the SGR and expressed gratitude for the warm reception and hospitality accorded to them and their delegations during the
8. The Ministers directed technical staff of the member States to keep in close contact in order to fast track development of SGR.

DONE AT KAMPALA, UGANDA this 26th Day of May 2023.