BY: SOLOMON ONYANGO.

On 6 May 2026, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba posted on social media that the Turkish contractor Yapı Merkezi would "never lay a railway sleeper in Uganda." The post referred to the company’s role in the €2.7 billion Malaba–Kampala Standard Gauge Railway.

The statement got tens of thousands of views within hours. A supporter, Daudi Kabanda, replied that such "nonsense should only be tolerated in Somalia."

General Muhoozi has every right to speak his mind. But the timing and tone of that post have raised real questions about how predictable Uganda’s infrastructure procurement actually is. Those questions deserve a calm look.

The general is a senior military commander and a powerful political voice. His online following runs into the hundreds of thousands. Many Ugandans share genuine worries about transparency, local participation, and whether big contracts are clean. When he says a firm was "smuggled in", that reflects a belief right or wrong that something was off. Even unproven perceptions like that cannot be brushed aside in a democracy.

On the other hand, the Malaba–Kampala SGR contract was awarded through a competitive process. Citibank was brought in to arrange syndicated financing. Early preparatory work has started. Yapı Merkezi is a real EPC contractor with a solid record. But here is the thing that often gets missed: the company has not itself raised the money for Uganda’s section. The government is using its own budget for initial works. The planned US$2.2 billion syndicated loan has not yet closed.

Compare that to Tanzania. The same Turkish firm is building lots 3 and 4 of the Tanzanian SGR. Standard Chartered arranged a US$2.33 billion facility for that job, backed by European export credit agencies. The financing is there. In Uganda, the government still carries the full burden of finding the cash.

Tanzania shows what happens when political leadership backs a project without disrupting it. President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government kept the SGR moving across administrations. Financing came from Sweden, Poland, Italy and China different export credit agencies. The result is a 722km railway that works, moving nearly six million passengers and cutting travel time from twelve hours by road to three hours by rail.

Kenya also has useful lessons. The JKIA–Westlands Expressway opened in 2022. It is a 27km toll road that cost $668 million. What used to take two hours now takes twenty minutes, and 50,000 vehicles use it daily. Kenya is now planning the $650 million Nairobi–Thika Expressway and the $863 million Rironi–Mau Summit Superhighway. When the SGR extension to Malaba hit financing trouble, Nairobi came up with a securitised bond of up to Sh390 billion roughly $2.6‑3 billion. That was a market solution that respected existing contracts.

Ethiopia offers a warning. The Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway cost $4 billion, mostly from China Exim Bank. The line still runs, but only fifteen of forty‑one light rail trains work a decade later. Building is not enough; you have to maintain things.

For lenders and contractors, predictability is everything. Uganda’s Kampala–Jinja Expressway – a $1.5 billion PPP – and the new UGX 11 billion solar facility (launched April 2026) both need investor confidence. One high‑profile intervention, however well meant, can make financiers charge higher risk premiums or walk away.

Instead of treating the general’s tweet as a disaster, the government could use it to strengthen the rules. Clarify formally whether the Yapı Merkezi contract still stands. If there are real due process concerns, let an independent body like the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority review them and publish the findings. Let Parliament debate big contracts. Write local content rules that address Ugandan participation without breaking international tender rules. None of that weakens authority. It strengthens Uganda’s reputation as a place to put long‑term money.

Behind all this are ordinary Ugandans. A working SGR would cut freight costs from Mombasa by nearly half. That means cheaper food and fuel. The Jinja expressway would clear a deadly corridor that kills thousands of people every year. Solar power could reach rural clinics and schools. Every month of uncertainty has a real human cost. Sorting this out quickly and openly is not just about investors – it is about development.

Uganda is at a real crossroads. The concerns Muhoozi voiced about transparency, local participation, due process are legitimate subjects for public debate. But the contractor is not the problem. It is a proven EPC partner waiting for a financing package that has not yet come together. How the country handles this moment will decide whether its infrastructure push moves forward or stalls for years. The region is watching, not with glee but with experience. Neighbours have stumbled and found fixes. Uganda can also get through this, by honouring contracts, listening to concerns, and letting institutions lead. That is what lasting development rests on.

The author is a commentator on socio‑economic and political affairs anchored on governance and development in East Africa.