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Army to rebuild Uganda Railway

Posted: 24 Feb 2010, 14:09
by John Ashworth
ARMY TO REBUILD UGANDAN RAILWAY

Posted on 19 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor

Addressing the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) at the Ugandan Parliament in Kampala, President Yoweri Museveni said the poor infrastructure in the region needed immediate attention. “The problem of infrastructure in East Africa is a matter of survival,” he said, “especially electricity, the roads and railway. If we don’t improve, it will lead us into trouble.

The Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF), Musoveni announced, is to rebuild the railway network in the country. He told parliament that the UPDF had set up an engineering brigade and was quoted saying: “We shall use them to build the railway. I talked to the army engineers and they said it is okay”. The colonialists, he said, used “rudimentary tools” to construct the railway still in use in East Africa today. By contrast, the present army was in a much better position and possessed better technology.

Electricity power generation in the region, Museveni added, was too low to sustain development. He gave the assurance that even without foreign aid, Uganda could build its own power stations.