The Treasury has moved to unlock a Sh8.5 billion ($60 million) grant by the US government, with the creation of a special basket into which the funds would be channelled for use in traffic improvement projects in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa.
Kenya is yet to tap into the grant from the United States Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), nearly five years after the country was picked as a beneficiary of the project aimed at improving transport in the three cities.
President William Ruto formally signed the funding deal with the MMC last September but funds could not be released pending the creation of a special account through which the cash would be handled.
Last week, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’ u published the Public Finance Management (Kenya Millennium Development Fund) Regulations, 2024.
The regulations establish the Kenya Millennium Development Fund to manage the funds granted as part of a $55 billion kitty to Africa. The seed capital for the fund will be the $60 million grant from MCC.
“There is established fund to be known as the Kenya Millennium Development Fund, which shall be the vehicle for implementation of the Threshold Programme on behalf of the government,” reads the regulations.
“The object and purpose of the fund is to exercise and perform the government’s obligation to oversee, manage and implement the threshold programme.”
The projects under the MCC, which were initiated in 2019, would see the transport in Kenya’s cities of Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu improve.
The programme will focus on the transportation needs of pedestrians, develop more visible transportation options for women, and provide financing support for the acquisition of climate-friendly buses for the emerging bus rapid transit network.
This is the second phase of the programme, with the first one, valued at Sh1.8 billion ($12.7 million), ending on March 24, 2027.
The Kenya Urban Mobility and Growth Threshold Programme will focus on four main areas such as expanding transportation networks within the larger metropolitan area, building spaces for non-motorised transport, planning for future transport systems, and financing options such as rapid bus transit systems as well as regreening the city.
The previous programme, the Kenya Threshold Programme, was aimed at helping the country combat corruption and improve the efficiency of government institutions.
The Kenya Threshold Programme was composed of three activities that focused on reforming the country’s public procurement systems, improving health service and delivery, and improving the monitoring capacity of government and civil society organizations.
However, it looks like Washington, following in the steps of Beijing, a major financier of infrastructure projects, has moved away from governance.
