MV Kabalega: From Shs 6 Billion Asset to a Shs 1,000 Token

For landlocked Uganda, Lake Victoria once served as a crucial maritime highway, seamlessly integrated with the nation’s railway network. Ports like Bell and Jinja featured tracks that extended to the water’s edge, allowing cargo wagons to be loaded onto ferries. These vessels then transported goods across Lake Victoria to Mwanza in Tanzania and Kisumu in Kenya, where they rejoined rail networks heading to Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, effectively making the lake part of Uganda’s railway infrastructure.

This vital system facilitated the movement of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of cargo annually. However, over time, this marine railway system has largely devolved into a narrative of sunk ships, grounded vessels, idle infrastructure, and public assets whose trail has become increasingly obscure.

The most striking example is the MV Kabalega, one of Uganda’s three major wagon ferries. It has rested at the bottom of Lake Victoria since May 8, 2005, after colliding with MV Kaawa. Despite its submerged state, for years, MV Kabalega continued to be listed in URC’s books as a significant asset. A Treasury Memorandum from June 30, 2021, indicated its value at Shs 5.76 billion. Auditors, however, could not ascertain this value due to the ferry being underwater and unretrieved.

In response, URC reduced the recorded value of the submerged vessel, along with another submerged asset, MV Barbus, to a token Shs 1,000 in the 2021/22 financial year. This move was made while awaiting offers for their retrieval. The story of MV Kabalega and the broader marine railway system reflects a significant decline in Uganda’s transport capabilities.

This situation also raises questions about other unrecovered assets. The World Bank records indicate URC owned additional marine assets, including a dry dock, a service launch, a small passenger ferry, and a motorized lighter. By 1989, two motor vessels were reportedly serving offshore islands near Jinja, but their current status and whereabouts remain unconfirmed, adding to the mystery surrounding URC’s lost marine assets.

https://observer.ug/news/how-urcs-mv-kabalega-turned-from-shs-6bn-asset-to-shs-1000-token