Burundi now wants to participate in the implementation of joint infrastructure projects by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan, leaving Tanzania isolated in the region.

At the same time, the so-called Coalition of the Willing partners appeared to forge ahead with plans for the standard gauge railway that will link the countries after Uganda and Rwanda said they would adopt Kenya’s controversial financing approach, in which it is receiving 85 per cent financing (or $4.4 billion) from Exim Bank of China.

The model has drawn controversy in Kenya, but a parliamentary committee has finally given the go-ahead for the project.

Questions had been raised over the capacity of China Bridge and Road Corporation to build the Ksh448 billion ($5.2 billion) Mombasa-Malaba railway and over why the contract had been single-sourced.

READ: Controversy dogs firm building standard gauge railway line

It has also emerged that Uganda now wants to terminate an agreement it entered with a Chinese firm for the construction of its SGR as the fight for the contract enters a decisive phase.

READ: Uganda SGR row boils down to nine miles

Meeting in Kampala on Thursday for the Northern Corridor Integration Project Summit, Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda) agreed that Uganda and Rwanda would adopt the Kenyan financing approach to fast-track the construction of the SGR and report to the next Summit due in April.

The presidents said the countries must meet the March 2018 deadline for completion of the standard gauge line. This came even as it emerged that Uganda would cancel an existing deal on the SGR.

According to a February 5 letter from Uganda’s Works Permanent Secretary Alex Okello to the Solicitor General, the ministry acknowledges that it signed a MoU with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation in January 2012 “for purposes of rehabilitating or upgrading of the existing railway line from Malaba to Kampala.”

Okello goes on to explain that after joining Kenya and Rwanda in a tripartite agreement to develop a standard gauge railway, the MoU with CCECC has to be terminated to make way for regional negotiations. He seeks legal guidance from the Solicitor General on how this can be achieved in the shortest possible time.

The letter does not explain what aspects of the tripartite agreement make it necessary for Uganda to cancel the MoU, especially given that the same ministry is trying to enter into a new MoU with another Chinese civil contractor, the China Harbour Engineering Corporation, CHEC.

The PS’s letter is also at variance with recent developments that have seen Kenya proceed to award the contract for its portion of the SGR to the China Road and Bridge Corporation, another subsidiary of CHEC’s parent China Civil Construction Corporation, which is undertaking construction of the Kampala-Entebbe superhighway.

Junior Works Minister John Byabagambi, who is chair of the SGR Steering Committee, ruled out the possibility of the regional SGR project being awarded to a single contractor, saying each country would manage its portions of the project although they would try to jointly approach the Chinese government for funding.

Uganda’s portion of the line will cost an estimated $5 billion, not $7 billion as earlier estimated, he said.

Meanwhile, Burundi, which attended the CoW meeting for the first time, asked to be allowed to join all initiatives.

The formal inclusion of Burundi and Tanzania in the talks for closer economic ties will reshape the political-economic map of the region, as the countries seek to heal a rift that had threatened to scuttle the East African Community.

The heads of state directed their ministers of foreign affairs to co-ordinate Burundi’s interest and invite the ministers of Burundi and Tanzania to the next technical and ministerial meetings.

READ: CoW moves to mend rift with Tanzania

Leaders from the three countries first met in June last year to discuss joint investments in a new standard gauge railway, an oil refinery in Uganda and oil pipelines. They were joined in Kigali by President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, who was expected to join the grouping.

Burundi’s Vice President Gervais Rufyikiri said that as a landlocked country, they recognise the need for the infrastructure projects that are currently being undertaken by Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda.

“So Burundi fully supports all infrastructure projects as they are important in developing this region but in all these initiatives we have been excluded at all levels,” he said. “We therefore request to be included in all the technical meetings and the political decisions.”

Reported by Michael Wakabi and Dicta Asiimwe