In a bid to better publicize the achievements of China’s high speed railway construction and further deepen its friendship with Kenya, China is inviting at least 30 Kenya railway officers to get a firsthand look at China’s railway system.
The Kenyan railway officers will leave for China at the end of the week.
The officers, who were chosen from a competitive selective process, will attend a bilateral seminar from May 27th to June 28th. Speaking during their farewell ceremony in Nairobi, Economic and Commercial Counsellor Prof. Guo Ce, says that the group will among other things learn about China’s national conditions and the history of China’s railways development. The group will also attend special lectures on railway crime and railway fire fighting.
Kenya railways police deputy commandant Patrick Makoha also attended Wednesday’s ceremony. He expressed thanks to the Chinese embassy for bilateral relations between Kenya and China.
He also implored upon the officers to exhibit professionalism while at the 28 day seminar and urged them to gather knowledge that will help them in their jobs once they are back in Kenya.
“Make sure you value your commitment to make a difference in the railway system”, said Makoha.
The Standard Gauge Railway will mark the first anniversary of its launch in June 2017. Both Chinese and Kenyan government leaders laud the remarkable improvement in transportation the SGR has brought between the two cities of Nairobi and Mombasa.
According to Prof. Guo, “SGR is the best railway in Africa in my view, although located in Africa it has international standards.”
The China-Kenya partnership also seeks to closely integrate human resources with economic development. Johnstone Mwariga, a high ranking officer superintendent who will be leading the delegation of 30, has high expectations. He says the team will not only learn how China manages its high speed railway system but will also explore China’s culture as well as the legal system that oversees the police sector.
“It is an experience that we are looking forward to, and by the time the seminar comes to a close we will have gathered enough expertise on improving our railway system that has come from far.”
Officer Purity Kawira agrees. She has had a longstanding career of 15 years as an officer with the railway department and looks forward to the trip to China.
“I am sure this will be a life changing experience. I remain open minded in learning and will bring back those skills to my fellow officers”.
China is expected to continue assisting Kenya with capacity building and training in the coming years. Prof. Guo says a second batch of officers will be leaving in two months for their training.
‘’There’s a traditional Chinese saying that it’s better to see something once than to hear about it a hundred times, which means seeing is believing. China is willing to work with Kenyan people to strengthen co-operation in various fields during the new term of President Kenyatta’’
In the past two years, through bilateral and multilateral channels China has invited more than 1000 Kenyan officials and technicians to China to participate in short term training and funded 70 locals students to study for master’s and doctoral degrees in Chinese famous universities.
