Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government spent Sh1.4 trillion building roads in his 10-year stint, opening up the country while also saddling it with debts.
This was nearly six times what his predecessor Mwai Kibaki spent in his two terms, with some of his largest road projects being the Thika Superhighway, which cost the country a total of Sh26.7 billion.
Although Kenyatta’s administration built most of the roads using loans, the Sh88 billion Nairobi Expressway that was completed towards the end of his term was financed and built largely by the private sector.
Nonetheless, taxpayers will still spend Sh24.8 billion on a 27.4-kilometre highway, which motorists are already paying toll fees of as much as Sh417 to use, according to a disclosure by the Treasury.
While the government’s financial burden on privately-built projects like the 27.4-kilometre highway is expected to be minimal, the report from the Treasury shows that by end of June last year, it had released Sh5.93 billion for the double-decker road, with the outstanding balance of Sh18.9 billion to be released later.
Some of the other major road projects that were completed between 2013 and June 30, 2022, include the dualling of the Nairobi Eastern Bypass at a total cost of Sh38.9 billion, with Kenyatta following in the footsteps of his predecessor to build more bypasses to decongest cities.
Kenyatta’s administration also built Nairobi’s Western Bypass at a cost of Sh22.4 billion, while Outer Ring Road took up Sh19.6 billion.
It is also during his term that there was the dualling of the Mombasa-Mariakani at a total cost of Sh39 billion, while the Miritini-Mwache Road, including the Kipevu Link Road, was done at a cost of Sh21.6 billion.
The James Gichuru junction-Rironi, which is still under construction, will cost Sh34.4 billion.
Virtually all the roads built by President Kenyatta were loans, with critics arguing that this has saddled Kenyans with debts with a big chunk of taxes being used on interest payments.
However, the former President insisted that his administration had achieved a lot “using other people’s money.”
“The only time that debt is a burden to a nation is if the nation is led by a cabal of looters. But in the hands of a visionary administration, debt is a catalyst for rapid development,” said Kenyatta in his last Madaraka Day speech.
“In the last decade Kenya’s infrastructure development drive has been funded mainly by borrowing including from international bond markets,” said the Treasury in a new report.
By end of June 2022, road projects that had been commissioned by Uhuru’s administration had taken up Sh631.5 billion, with Sh781 billion yet to be disbursed.
In his 10 years to early 2013, the late President Kibaki had spent Sh247.7 billion on roads, including the Southern Bypass, which was built at an estimated cost of Sh24.2 billion.
