The Sh160 billion Mau Summit highway project has been suspended by President William Ruto, sending contractors and investors of Kenya’s most expensive road project into a tailspin.
The construction of the 233-kilometer Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Toll Road, which was originally scheduled to begin in September 2021, was sparked by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and has been waiting for President Ruto’s approval.
Sources close to the project, however, claim that the new administration has been coy about the road’s tolling, which they worry will upset President Ruto’s Rift Valley neighborhood’s economy.
They will use currently-existing lee ways owned by Kenha, so there will be toll fees for those traveling from one county to the next.
The International Development Association (IDA), another arm of the World Bank Group that helps poor countries, was expected to provide a partial risk guarantee for the four-lane highway, putting the World Bank in the driver’s seat of the Sh184 billion project.