Afristar workers servicing one of the locomotives
In March this year, this site reported that there were active efforts by the Chinese and some elements within the Afristar ( The company that manages SGR) to bungle the planned takeover that was to happen in May.
This site revealed that the racist Chinese Firm Afristar devised ways to prevent the Kenya Railways SGR operations takeover.
The Chinese frustrated the takeover of the SGR by KRC through the top AFRISTAR management led by the DGM Sammy Gachuhi and the HR Mary Mwihaki with the assistance of a few Kenyan staff who were set to lose big once the operations shifted to KRC were also exposed here.
The cabal formed an alliance with the Chinese to be used to offer interviews and briefings to the KRC Board during the transition preparedness visits that the Kenyan staff haven’t been fully trained and are incapable of taking over operations that were scheduled for May this year to push the agenda of AFRISTAR to have their expensive contract extended for a further 5 years.
But the Kenya Railways Corporation MD Philip Mainga sought to downplay fears that Kenyan workers currently stationed at AfriStar have not been fully trained to take over SGR operations come June.
KRC in 2017 contracted AfriStar, a subsidiary of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), to manage SGR operations and maintenance.
Under the contract, the operator had the right to manage the ticketing system and any associated software and hardware functions of the SGR.
The Kenyan government in 2020, however, reached a deal with AfriStar to take over operations and maintenance by May 2022. This is after it emerged that payments to the operator were unstainable.
The cost of operating the SGR has been a concern with data by the Transport ministry showing that taxpayers spend an average of Sh1 billion per month on the Mombasa-Nairobi railway alone.
Revenue collection by Afristar has in the past trailed expenditure—exposing taxpayers to a huge bill for sustaining operations.
Apart from the operating fees, Kenya is obligated to honour repayment of the Sh324 billion it borrowed for the project from the Exim Bank of China in May 2014 and started repaying last year after expiry of the five-year grace period.
Parliament last year recommended that the SGR operating costs be cut by half and the terms of the loan taken to finance its construction renegotiated to ease pressure on taxpayers.
Speaking to the editor of this site anonymously, a source well versed with the happening there informed us that the Afristar workers are very demoralized and wonder why they have been left in the hands of the racist Chinese.
“The said KRC transition from Afristar railway operation company to Kenya railways never happened only someone pocketed some amount and retained 90% of its employees for further mistreatment by Chinese when ask the NO one is giving concrete reasons,” Said one staffer who is worried.
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