Gov't Defends Sh900 Million Per Kilometer Nairobi-Mombasa Superhighway to be Built by US Company

Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has defended the cost of the 466-kilometre Nairobi-Mombasa Expressway to be constructed by Bechtel, a US-based engineering company.

The mega infrastructure will cost 380 billion shillings, translating to about Sh900 million per kilometer - high coast per km compared to other roads of similar stature in the region.

Some experts have raised questions on why the country would spend this much on a road that is running parallel to the old Nairobi-Mombasa highway and the recently constructed Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), terming it unnecessary.

The expressway will have 48 kilometers of interchanges, 76 overpasses, 21 underpasses, 189 kilometers of local roads and 189 culverts. It will be a toll road with motorists being allowed to cruise with speed of up to 120 kilometers per hour.

Two weeks ago, President Kenyatta said infrastructure development is key to driving the country's economic progress.

“All this costs money. Your taxes have paid for clear, tangible progress; this development trajectory will propel our country to new heights of prosperity,” said the President.

However questions continue to pop up over the huge price variation in construction of the roads.

“Road construction costs, like all major infrastructure projects, are being held hostage by among other reasons single sourcing of contractors in questionable government to government deals and kickbacks,” says economics lecturer Dr Samuel Nyandemo.

“Otherwise, why would there be a huge difference between the costs of a road constructed in Kenya and its neighbours?” he asks.

For instance, the newly opened 25.8 kilometre Dongo Kundu bypass in Mombasa was constructed at Sh1.5 billion per kilometer. In neighboring Ethiopia a 200-km Modjo-Hawassa Expressway, which is similar to the Nairobi-Mombasa one will cost Sh350 million per kilometer.

This is a difference of a whooping Sh550 million but the government maintains it is a matter of design.

“You can go to a shop and find one suit costing Sh10,000 and you go to another and find another suit costing a million shillings. You need to look at the road designs first,” says Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia.

“Ask yourself what does the Western Bypass involve in terms of design and engineering. It has seven interchanges. We have also done roads whose cost per kilometre is less than Sh30 million,” adds Macharia, a position backed by Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA).

“The project designs have been evolving along with the costs,” KeNHA Director David Muchilwa said.