The Managing Director of Uganda Railways Corporation (URC), Benon Kajuna, has recorded a statement with Parliament Police after failing to present documentary evidence showing efforts to recover 394 railway wagons that went missing during the Rift Valley Railways (RVR) concession.
Kajuna and other URC officials appeared before Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure on Thursday, 23 July 2026, chaired by Hon. Mwine Mpaka, to respond to concerns raised in the Auditor General’s report on the corporation’s operations, including missing railway wagons, safety concerns and infrastructure challenges.
The hearing turned tense after committee members demanded accountability for the disappearance of the wagons and questioned why URC had not provided sufficient evidence of attempts to trace or recover them.
Hon. Berunado Ssebbugga-Kimeze (NRM, Buyende County) faulted the corporation for failing to dispose of obsolete assets, arguing that the delay had denied URC an estimated Shs4.8 billion in revenue from dilapidated assets located in Uganda and Tanzania.
He also expressed concern over weak internal controls that led to the disappearance of 113 Uganda Railways wagons and 281 Kenya Railways wagons.
«”A wagon is a big thing, bigger than a bus. How can something bigger than a bus just disappear? Not one, not two, but 113. And as if that is not enough, we lost 281 wagons belonging to Kenya Railways. This puts Uganda into disrepute and could cause us a diplomatic problem,” Ssebbugga-Kimeze said.»
Hon. William Tiyo (NRM, Ayivu Division East) questioned whether the missing wagons could have been illegally disposed of as scrap metal and challenged URC to explain how it expected to become profitable when railway operations remained limited.
He warned that continued poor performance could compel Parliament to consider restructuring the corporation.
In response, Kajuna explained that railway wagons move freely between Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania under a tripartite agreement governing the movement of rolling stock across the three countries.
He said Ugandan wagons are permitted to remain in Kenya for up to 14 days, while Kenyan wagons may stay in Uganda for seven days before penalties apply. Under the agreement, any wagon that remains away for more than 90 days is officially classified as lost.
URC Principal Mechanical Engineer Geoffrey Sekamatte told the committee that of the 394 missing wagons, 113 belonged to Uganda Railways while 281 belonged to Kenya Railways.
He attributed the problem to the period when Rift Valley Railways migrated from a manual wagon management system to a digital platform known as Translogic.
According to Sekamatte, wagons that could not immediately be traced during the migration were transferred into a “virtual station” at Nyahururu in central Kenya, after which they became difficult to track.
Hon. Nathan Byanyima (NRM, Bukanga North County) questioned why URC had not advised government earlier, particularly after Kenya exited the RVR concession before Uganda.
Kajuna maintained that the tripartite agreement requires the railway authority responsible for a wagon that remains missing beyond 90 days to compensate the owner based on the replacement cost of a new wagon.
Hon. Samuel Opio (NRM, Kole North County) demanded a comprehensive inventory of all URC wagons, including their locations across Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, saying Parliament required verifiable records showing every wagon’s movement through operational and border documentation.
The committee subsequently directed URC officials to submit documentary evidence demonstrating the steps taken to recover the missing wagons.
Committee Chairperson Hon. Mwine Mpaka warned that failure to produce the required documentation would attract immediate action against the responsible officials.
«”Documented evidence of steps you have taken to recover these wagons. Failure to do so, those who have introduced themselves, the Head of Security, the Engineer and the Executive Director, we are going to arrest you immediately,” Mpaka warned.»
The committee temporarily suspended the meeting to allow URC officials time to retrieve the required documents. However, when they failed to produce the evidence, Kajuna was required to record a statement with Parliament Police regarding the missing wagons.
Beyond the missing rolling stock, URC also briefed the committee on measures to improve railway safety, proposing the installation of automated boom barriers, warning signals and other protective infrastructure at major railway crossings to reduce accidents.
The corporation further highlighted severe financial constraints, reporting a cumulative funding deficit of Shs250.5 billion, locomotive availability of only 40 to 50 percent, and an annual financing gap of Shs89 billion needed for rehabilitation works, acquisition of rolling stock and operational requirements.
URC also appealed to Parliament to support the release of Shs99 billion in outstanding counterpart funding for the Resettlement Action Plan under the African Development Bank-funded Kampala–Malaba Metre Gauge Railway Rehabilitation Project.
The Committee on Physical Infrastructure is expected to review the corporation’s submissions before presenting its recommendations to Parliament.
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