1,800km of roads paved in 2014 as State moves to open up rural areas

Nearly 1,800 kilometres of roads were paved last year as the government moved to open up rural areas.

The newly paved roads are equivalent to what Kenya has developed in the four years to 2013, underlining the quest by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government to increase motor ways over the next five years.

This pushed the total paved roads network to 13,000km last year, up from 11,230 in 2013 and 10,900km in 2010, according to the Economic Survey, 2015 released Wednesday.

“The total length of roads under gravel increased from 53,100km in 2010 to 63,100km in 2014 due to the adoption of the low volume sealed roads technology for road improvement and upgrading,” says the survey.

The growth comes as the country is looking to enter a period of more intense road development under the annuity programme that will see 10,000km paved in the next five years.

READ: State says private engineers will oversee 10,000km road project

Most of the road works that were completed or are ongoing in the financial year 2014/15 are in rural areas that have previously received little attention compared to highways and urban roads.

These include Ejinja-Bumala in Kakamega County (37km), Homa Bay-Mbita (42 km) and Londiani-Fortenan- Muhoroni (67km) among others.

Farmers have in the past cited unpaved roads that are unusable during rainy seasons as the reason that a lot of products, especially vegetables rot in their farms.

The growth in the length of paved roads corresponds to a huge jump in the resources allocated to the sector.

In the current financial year, roads were allocated Sh193.1 million, which is nearly double the Sh100 million allocated in the preceding year- 2013/14.

President Kenyatta has placed a huge premium on mobility and is keen to leverage private sector capital to grow the length of roads in the country.

Under the annuity programme, contractors will design, finance, build, operate and maintain the roads for some time. The Treasury will act as a guarantor for their bank loans.

The government will then repay the loans in equal instalments (annuity) over eight years, starting from the time the road section is completed.

The government is yet to issue tenders for development of roads under the programme for construction of the first 650km by private investors.

Besides roads, the government is also developing the Standard Gauge Railway that is expected to make hauling of cargo to and from Mombasa port cheaper and faster.