Ecweru decries railway infrastructure vandalism as two LC1s arrested

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The police in Teso are holding two LC1 chairpersons over allegations of stealing railway sleepers.

The two leaders, whose names have not been revealed, were found with railway sleepers hidden inside their houses.

The development has angered works state minister Musa Ecweru, who is calling on the authorities to step up vigilance in ensuring that the railways property is protected.

As investigations are underway to establish the people using the LCs and other people to steal the Uganda Railways Corporation properties, Ecweru says the leads are linking the act to suspected metal processors.

“The metal processors either from Kampala or elsewhere persuade our people to steal with a promise of paying them a lot of money. So, the sleepers are stolen and kept in people’s houses with the hope that they can be bought by those who buy metal and take it to factories where they melt them and fabricate other things,” Ecweru explained.

Addressing the media in Teso, Ecweru expressed his disappointment with the LC leaders arrested, noting that their acts were criminal. He said the LCs should have been key in protecting the government property.

“One LC1 chairperson arrested with the railway sleepers in his house carelessly told me that he was keeping the sleepers for safety. I asked him whether he is a storekeeper of the Government or he had entered any memorandum of understanding with the Government to keep those materials,” Ecweru said.

As a result, the ministry has resolved to deploy a unit of security to monitor the safety of the railway property from Teso to Acholi region.

The rehabilitation of the old railway line from Tororo to Kampala has been completed and is now being used to transport goods from Mombasa to Kampala and vice versa.

Rehabilitation of Tororo line

The rehabilitation of the Tororo-Gulu line also started, but the works were halted due to financial challenges when the work was in Mukura in Ngora district.

“We have secured the money and the work is resuming and by August this year the work will have reached Soroti and by December, we shall be in Gulu where we have built our inland port,” Ecweru said.

“Much as we have continued to work on the roads for as long as the railway system is dormant, the life span of the roads is threatened. This is because all the goods that are supposed to be moved by railway and water are moved by the road,” Ecweru said.

In October last year, Uganda signed an agreement with Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi to build the 273-kilometre standard gauge railway from Malaba to Kampala and the construction is to take 48 months.

President Yoweri Museveni commissioned the construction work; however, as that work progresses, the Government is not abandoning the old railway line.