Ufungamano Joint Forum of Religious Organizations, Ufungamano House, Mamlaka Road,P.O. Box 54746 00200, Mobile 0722 341 829Press StatementFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Kenyas Economy Cannot Sustain the Implementation of theMombasa Nairobi Standard Gauge RailwayThe Ufungamano Multi Sectoral Forum feels that the proposed Mombasa Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway is economically unviable and will needlessly strain Kenyas already struggling economy beyond its limits.Kenyas wage bill is now in excess of 50% of the countrys total domestic revenues and threatens to bring development in the country to a screeching halt. Despite the manifest implications of this ballooning wage bill, the government is going full speed ahead with the Mombasa Nairobi Standard Railway Gauge Project, a move that will needlessly further push the countrys economy to its limits.The Mombasa Nairobi standard rail project is the first phase of the Standard Gauge Railway Project that is connect Mombasa to Malaba (with a branch line to Kisumu); to Kampala, Kigali (with branch line to Kasese); and Juba (with a branch line to Pakwach). Building a standard gauge from Mombasa to Nairobi (not reaching Malaba) will cost an estimated Sh. 327 Billion. This cost is, curiously, Sh. 107 billion more that the initial estimated cost of 220 billion shillings agreed on by the current principle secretary in the Transport Ministry, Nduva Muli, when he was Managing Director for Kenya Railways Corporation in 2012. This equates to Sh. 315 million per one kilometer of railway. Even more curious, however, is the insistence by the government to build new standard gauge railway between Mombasa and Nairobi while it would be cheaper to simply refurbish and upgrade the current metre gauge railway at an estimated cost of Sh. 42.63 million per kilometre. Brazil and India present two success stories of developing economies, such as Kenya, that opted to upgrade their metre gauge railways to standard gauge railways instead of building new railways entirely.At a time when the countrys public wage bill is out of control and the national debt continues to weigh heavily on Kenyans, it would be, at the very least, improper for government to unnecessarily raise that national debt by an unprecedented 25% and further burden Kenyans by making them shoulder the payment of this debt. The government must consider cheaper alternatives to the Mombasa-Nairobi standard railway Gauge if it hopes to achieve, and not derail, the countrys Vision 2030 development plan.The forum is calling upon the government to, in the interest of the country:a) To halt the implementation of the standard gauge railway project to allow time for reviewb) Disclose all information relating to the standard gauge railwayc) Ensure effective public consultation on matters relating to the standard gauge railway project and all other public investment projectsd) Upgrade and refurbish the current Mombasa Malaba railway to achieve the same target results of the proposed standard gauge railway instead of building an entirely new right of waye) Improve performance of the management of the railway transport system