Ruto now vows to reverse Uhuru deals on Kenya SGR

[John Ashworth]

Ruto now vows to reverse Uhuru deals on SGR

Deputy President William Ruto has vowed to reverse some of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s key standard gauge railway deals, if elected in the August 9 polls. In a blistering attack on his own government, Ruto termed some decisions on cargo handling the "biggest impoverishment of the people." He accused some individuals he did not name of hijacking the project for personal interests...

[John Ashworth]

Court orders state to disclose secret Sh450bn SGR contract

The High Court in Mombasa has ordered the government to provide two activists with agreements relating to the construction of the Sh450 billion standard gauge railway (SGR) line project. Justice John Mativo further issued an order declaring that failure by the Attorney-General, Transport and National Treasury Principal Secretaries to provide the information sought is a violation of the right to access to information. Activists Khelef Khalifa and Ms Wanjiru Gikonyo sought to have all contracts, agreements and studies related to the construction and operations of the SGR made public. They argued that keeping the documents confidential violates the law and discourages transparency in governance. Justice Mativo ruled that public officers have a constitutional duty to make information available to Kenyans saying that any restriction on access to information from the government must have a genuine purpose and demonstrable effect of protecting a legitimate national security interest. He further said such a restriction is justified only if its effect is to protect a country's existence or its territorial integrity. “It is clear that the respondents’ attempt to hide behind the provisions of sections 3(6) & (7) of the Official Secrets Act flies in the face of Article 35, section 29 of the Access to Information Act and falls to be rejected,” ruled Justice Mativo...