Raila Flexes Muscles With Exclusive Mombasa Meeting

African Union Special Envoy for Infrastructure Raila Odinga convened a meeting exclusively for ministers from countries involved in the Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) project.

In a post on his social media pages on Tuesday, January 14, Odinga announced that he had called the delegates in his capacity as the AU Special Envoy to deliberate on issues involving the project.

The meeting, held at the Sarova Whitesands, Mombasa, featured ministers from Sudan and Ethiopia led by Kenya's Infrastructure CS James Macharia

AU Special Envoy Raila Odinga flanked by Infrastructure CS James Macharia (in white shirt) in Mombasa on Tuesday, January 14.

"Convened the first ministerial meeting of LAPPSET countries aimed at establishing a Representative Steering Committee as an umbrella body to coordinate its implementation. Our nations will not be the same once the program takes off as a regional and multinational enterprise," Odinga announced on Twitter.

According to the project's website, the LAPSSET Corridor Program is Eastern Africa’s largest and most ambitious infrastructure project bringing together Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

This mega project consists of seven key infrastructure projects starting with a new 32 berth port at Lamu (Kenya) and interregional highways from Lamu to Isiolo, Isiolo to Juba (South Sudan), Isiolo to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and Lamu to Garsen (Kenya).

It also involves a crude oil pipeline from Lamu to Isiolo, Isiolo to Juba; a product oil pipeline from Lamu to Isiolo and from Isiolo to Addis Ababa, and 3 international airports: one each at Lamu, Isiolo, and Lake Turkana.

The LAPPSET project envisions an interregional standard gauge railway (SGR) line from Lamu to Isiolo, Isiolo to Juba, Isiolo to Addis Ababa, and Nairobi to Isiolo, and three resort cities: one each at Lamu, Isiolo, and Lake Turkana.

The project also plans to feature an ambitious multipurpose High Grand Falls Dam along the Tana River.

Odinga's ventures in the coastal region took place minutes away from where President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed the nation on Tuesday morning.

President Uhuru Kenyatta in Mombasa on Tuesday, January 14, 2020.

He announced new changes in the Cabinet that saw Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri lose his job and CSs Monica Juma of Foreign Affairs and Rachel Omamo of Defence swap positions.