New board takes over at Uganda Railways amid decay and land grabbing concerns

Former Energy Minister Daudi Migereko takes over as chairman of the Uganda Railways Corp. board, facing the challenge of reviving a national asset plagued by decades of decay and land grabbing.

KAMPALA, Uganda — Former Energy Minister Daudi Migereko has taken over as chairman of the Uganda Railways Corp. board, inheriting a national asset struggling with decades of decay, corruption allegations and infrastructure collapse.

The new board was sworn in last week by Works and Transport Minister Katumba Wamala, who tasked the leadership with enforcing accountability and protecting the corporation’s assets from land grabbing. Katumba noted that high-ranking officials have been implicated in the illegal seizure of railway land, which has severely limited the agency’s operational capacity.

The appointment comes as the government attempts to revitalize a system that has long been sidelined by underfunding and vandalism. While the government has committed to rehabilitation projects in recent years, experts say the investment has been insufficient to quickly reverse years of neglect.

Securing land titles and defending boundaries will be a primary test for Migereko. Every acre lost to encroachment weakens the long-term plan to revive the rail system as a backbone for regional trade.

The corporation is currently working to rehabilitate lines from Malaba to Kampala and the Gulu line with support from the African Development Bank. However, even with improved tracks, the agency faces a shortage of equipment. Managing Director Benon M. Kajuna said the railway is underutilized because it only has four active locomotives, with another four undergoing repairs.

There are signs of a fragile financial turnaround. The corporation reported that operating losses dropped from 51 billion shillings in the 2023-24 financial year to 17.05 billion shillings in 2024-25, a 67 percent improvement.

Migereko acknowledged the difficulty of the task, noting that as a landlocked country, Uganda requires a functional railway to reduce the cost of exporting bulky raw materials.

Katumba expressed optimism that once a planned standard gauge railway is operational, it will link Uganda to Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. For now, the new board must stabilize the existing meter-gauge system while preparing for a future regional network.