Gov't Spends Sh1.5 Million Daily to Maintain Thika Superhighway

The government spends more than Sh1.5 million daily to maintain Thika Superhighway, records from the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) show.

This makes the highway built during President Mwai Kibaki's administration the most expensive road to maintain in the country.

Nairobi News reports that the government paid an engineering company Sh1.08 billion to maintain the 45-kilometre stretch in a tender running from 2016 to 2018.

The contract was awarded to a Nairobi-based Interways Works Ltd and its value is more than a quarter of what taxpayers paid to maintain more than 1,230 km of roads around the country.

Charles Njogu, the deputy head of communications at Kenha has defended the expenditure saying: “Please note that the contract amounts are based on road condition, amount of projected maintenance works, replacement of road furniture that may be damaged in case of accidents, lighting, drainage and blockage clearance among other extraneous factors."

He adds: “It also includes 24-hour surveillance and clearance of stalled traffic, in the case of Thika Superhighway, to ensure traffic flow.”

The 90km Mai Mahiu-Narok road is the second most expensive road to maintain, costing taxpayers Sh375.7 million for a period of 18 months.