President William Ruto has announced that the dualling of the Nairobi-Nakuru highway will begin next year, with the government seeking a new investor for the project.
He said the development of the key East African transport corridor will be in two phases. The President said the dual carriageway will initially cover the Nairobi-Nakuru stretch, before extending to the Kenya-Uganda border town of Malaba, Busia County.
He said the project is part of Kenya Kwanza’s commitment to upgrading key transport corridors. He spoke during a service at Kipkorgot AIC in Uasin Gishu County on Saturday.
Dr Ruto said the 175-kilometre project would improve transportation and expand domestic and regional trade among East Africa Community member states. “The commitment that I want to give to you is that next year, we will begin the construction of a dual carriageway from Nairobi, first to Nakuru, and then from Nakuru later, we will take it to Malaba.”
He revealed that the government is seeking a new public-private partnership (PPP) for the Sh180 billion ($1.3 billion) project after an earlier PPP agreement with a consortium of French companies fell through because of undisclosed reasons.
In September, he was in China where he courted the Chinese government to take over the project after the government dropped the French consortium in March 2024.
“We already have a programme and are in discussions with different firms on how that road is going to be done so that we can ease congestion and provide more transport capability for our infrastructure,” he said.
Dr Ruto was reacting to appeals by leaders from the region who decried traffic congestion along the road, which is part of the Trans-Africa Highway.
“The traffic congestion along Nairobi-Nakuru-Malaba highway is becoming a nightmare. Motorists are spending many hours on the road and the government should consider expanding it to a dual carriage to ease congestion and check many traffic issues,” Prof Phylis Bartoo, Moiben MP, appealed.
She said chaotic traffic jams had forced many passengers to seek costly alternative transport services, including the airline and railway system.
“Motorists have limited options whenever there is interruption of traffic along the highway and the only solution to this problem is to expand the road to make it a dual carriage.”
Disclosing plans to expand the highway, Dr Ruto was reluctant to disclose the cost of the project or the exact time when construction work will commence.
The Kenya National Highway Authority (Kenha) has issued an advisory following the snarl-up on the Rironi-Nairobi-Nakuru Road, especially during the festive season.
According to Kenha Director General Kungu Ndungu, alternative routes include Naivasha-Njambini-Ol Kalou-Dundori-Lanet-Nakuru road.
The Nairobi-Malaba highway is part of the Rironi-Mau Summit road whose construction had been awarded to a consortium of French firms but has since been snatched by Chinese. The Chinese will expand it to the town of Malaba.
The project is believed to be among the issues discussed by Dr Ruto and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit. It was awarded to the French during Uhuru Kenyatta’s second term, but that was cancelled early this year.
The government is, however, expected to compensate the French firms for the termination of the contract.
The Rift Valley Highway won the contract to design and source funds for the project under PPP and operate the road for 26 years to recover the investment.
