Gen. Muhoozi Orders SGR Contract Protest Amid Funding Boost Confusion

In a surprising turn of events, Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba has declared the unilateral cancellation of the €2.7 billion Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) contract with Turkish construction firm, Yapi Merkezi. Gen. Muhoozi, who also chairs the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), urged his supporters to stage protests at the Turkish Embassy in Kampala on Friday, June 19, 2026. He stated on social media, “We have cancelled the contract with the Turkish company to build the SGR. We will get another one that is more worthy of our country! PLU should demonstrate on Friday comrade!”

This abrupt announcement has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the multi-billion-dollar project. As of Tuesday evening, official government bodies, including the Ministry of Works and Transport and the SGR Project Secretariat, had not released any statement confirming a formal termination of the contract. This lack of official confirmation leaves observers, diplomats, and subcontractors in a state of suspense regarding the government’s official stance.

The development is particularly perplexing as it arrives mere weeks after the African Development Bank (AfDB) reiterated its commitment to partially finance the SGR project. On May 29, 2026, the Ministry of Finance announced the AfDB’s tentative allocation of $650 million for the Malaba to Kampala section. The AfDB had indicated that final financing arrangements would be concluded following an appraisal mission in July 2026.

This situation marks a significant reversal for Gen. Muhoozi, who had previously hosted a delegation from Yapi Merkezi in December 2025, discussing the project’s technical designs, including a tunnel passing through military land. At that time, he urged the firm to deliver high-quality work on schedule. The SGR project, intended to reduce regional transport costs, has had a tumultuous history, with a previous contract with a Chinese firm being terminated in 2023 before the agreement with Yapi Merkezi was signed in late 2024.

The directive for protests, with instructions for security services to allow them, puts the diplomatic relationship between Uganda and Turkey under strain. It remains unclear whether Gen. Muhoozi’s social media post constitutes an official government decree.

Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda) https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/confusion-over-sgr-project-as-muhoozi-orders-protests-against-turkish-firm-weeks-after-afdb-funding-boost-5498544