Kenya Railways held a “Stakeholders Validation Workshop” on January 24, 2024 in Nairobi where stakeholders from public and private sectors were taken through the gist of the Draft Strategic Plan for the period 2023-2027. This exercise was conducted in accordance with Kenya’s policy on public participation which allows all members of the public to participate in legislative processes either individually or as organised groups. According to the policy, “the International Association for Public Participation defines public participation as the involvement of those affected by a decision in the decision-making process.” Those affected by the decisions can also be rightfully referred to as stakeholders.

Various speakers took the stage one after the other to represent KR in presenting and elaborating the Draft Strategic plan 2023-2027. “Thank you all for availing yourselves today. We appreciate your interest in Kenya Railways’ Strategic Plan and willingness to offer your constructive feedback” Mr. Philip Mainga said. Mr. Job Otiwa, Research, Planning, and Compliance (RPC) General Manager (GM), elaborately took the attentive gathering through the major aspects of the Draft Strategic Plan. Slide-by-slide the plan’s scope got wider, effectively covering the broad mandate of Kenya Railways.

KR’s editorial team caught up with the GM after the event. The process of creating a feasible 2023-2027 strategy began in February 2022 with evaluation of KR’s performance over the preceding 5 years. According to Job, KR witnessed exponential growth in its crucial activities due to the construction of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Phase 2A which is Nairobi – Naivasha line, as well as the revitalization of the Metre Gauge Railway (MGR).

“Our findings indicated that we witnessed a leap in cargo haulage and movement of passengers transporting more than 10 times the volumes transported before the revitalization and expansion of Kenya’s railway network” he remarked, “We endeavoured to conceptualise and draft a strategic plan which will enable us to build on those gains. We want to enhance our operations in order to adequately utilize the infrastructure we’ve invested in,” he added.

The Draft Strategic Plan will be forwarded to the State Department for Economic Planning through the State Department for Transport, for concurrence after which it will be presented to the KR Board of Directors for approvals and alignment before the Final Strategic Plan 2023-2027 is launched in the coming weeks.