By Emojong Osere

THE Rift Valley Railways Investment (RVRI) shareholders and members of the Joint Railway Commission are meeting today at the Kenyan capital, Nairobi in a last round of negotiations expected to iron out RVRI ownership squabbles and pave way for the signing of a new company ownership agreement.

The meeting is expected to determine whether RVRI will continue with the management of the century-old railway line owned by the Ugandan and Kenyan governments or have its contract terminated.

The two governments two weeks ago gave the embattled company’s shareholders 12 days to settle boardroom wrangles over shareholding and draw a new company ownership accord expected to swap RVRI shares to a new entity- the Kenya Uganda Railway Holdings (KURH).

The Nairobi convention, according to sources, is largely projected to focus on the most contentious issue; the secret acquisition of South Africa’s Sheltam Rail’s 49% shares by an Egyptian company, Citadel Capital.

Under the current shareholding pact, all shareholders must endorse and sign the new agreement before it becomes a binding accord.
But the laxity by TransCentury to endorse the document since it is opposed to Citadel Capital’s majority share control has proved an impediment to the signing of the agreement and the subsequent transfer of shares to KURH.

“The meeting will take place in Nairobi,” Jim Mugunga, the Privatisation Unit publicist, confirmed without delving into the development.

During a January 27 meeting in Kampala, the Joint Railway Commission halted the transfer of shares from RVRI to KURH after RVRI shareholders said they had not yet finalised internal negotiations and were, therefore, not able to provide the necessary documents to meet conditions for the transfer of shareholding to Citadel Capital.

The Kenyan and Ugandan governments have threatened to cancel the 25-year concession if the shareholders fail to append signatures to the new agreement.

The two governments privatised the operations of the railway in 2006 and signed a 25-year concession with RVRI to jointly manage the over 900km railway line from Mombasa to Kampala.

But wrangles and mistrust among shareholders have thwarted efforts by shareholders to fund the investment, ruining the operations of the region’s cheapest means of transport.

RVRI shareholders include Sheltam Rail of South Africa (35%), Trans Century (20%), Prime Fuels of Kenya (15%), Centum Investments Kenya (10%), Mirambo Holdings of Tanzania (10%) and Australia’s Babcock and Brown (10%).