China's troubled Kenya projects impact polls

The new railway linking Nairobi to the port of Mombasa was supposed to be the crowning achievement of an infrastructure bonanza propelling President Uhuru Kenyatta to victory in Kenya’s Aug. 8 polls. Instead, more than two months after Kenyatta inaugurated it to great fanfare, the Chinese-built line is plagued with administrative problems, particularly the ticketing process that has made it impossible to buy tickets online or on the day of travel, Reuters reports. The problem, critics say, is that the $3.2 billion project was rushed to completion ahead of the elections. The railway, whose price tag helped send Kenya’s debt soaring above 50% of economic output, is not the only project facing problems. Last month, a $12-million bridge in western Kenya, visited by Kenyatta while it was being built by a Chinese firm, collapsed before it was completed. A ferry ramp near Mombasa collapsed in April, a month after its inauguration by Kenyatta.