• On Friday, the head of state will open the Devki Steel Mills in Samburu, Kinango, at 9am and visit the ongoing Dongo Kundu bypass project in Mombasa at 11am.
• The steel company in Samburu, which is owned by Devki Group, has the capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes of steel annually.
Image: HANDOUT
President William Ruto is on Friday expected to make a two-day tour of the coastal region.
This will be Ruto’s first visit of the region since he was sworn into office on September 13.
According to the State House itinerary, the President will tour Kwale, Mombasa and Kilifi counties.
On Friday, the head of state will open the Devki Steel Mills in Samburu, Kinango, at 9am and visit the ongoing Dongo Kundu bypass project in Mombasa at 11am.
The steel company in Samburu, which is owned by Devki Group, has the capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes of steel annually.
Devki Group, on its official company website, said the Sh50 billion steel factory is billed as the second largest in Africa after the one in South Africa, and is expected to create 15,000 jobs directly and 9,000 indirectly.
The company has its own 55MW power plant that generates electricity that will be wholly consumed by the steel plant.
After Samburu's visit, President Ruto will tour the Dongo Kundu bypass project, which connects west of Mombasa from Miritini area to Kwale in the South Coast.
Phase I of the project, which cost Sh11 billion, was opened by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in June 2018.
Phase II of the project entails the construction of a Sh24.2 billion Mwache-Tsunza-Mteza Bridge, which is expected to be opened to the public in March 2024.
The project runs in a southerly direction from the interchange for four kilometres, crossing the Mwache Creek and going through Tsunza Peninsula before turning eastwards across the Mteza Creek.
Phase III of the project is from Mteza Bridge to Kibundani on the South Coast.
The entire road project involves the construction of an interchange at the Likoni-Lunga Lunga highway and the erection of three bridges, one at Mwache spanning 660 metres.
The other two bridges will be Tsunza Viaduct (690m) and the Mteza Bridge, which is expected to be the longest bridge over water in the country and region straddling 1,440 metres.
The three-phased Dongo Kundu project is part of the Mombasa Port Area Road Development Project, which is being undertaken by the Kenyan government through funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
Kenya funds 20 per cent of the project, whereas Jica funds the remaining 80 per cent through conventional loans and grants.
On Saturday, President Ruto will be in Kilifi county for the burial of the father of Kilifi North MP Owen Baya, who died on Monday.
According to Baya, his father, Mzee Silas David Mweri, will be buried on Saturday at his Dabaso home at 9am.
“The cortège leaves Kilifi County Funeral Home on Saturday at 7am,” the MP said.
President Ruto’s visit to the Coast is significant to the region, which gave him more than 40 per cent of the two million votes in the August 9 general election.
The region has over the years been perceived as opposition leader Raila Odinga’s stronghold, but Ruto managed to make some inroads.
Ruto has awarded several politicians who supported his bid, with lucrative government appointments.
Former Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya was appointed Mining and Blue Economy CS and former Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa was appointed Public Service and Gender CS.
Former Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi was elected Senate Speaker and MP Owen Baya was elected Deputy Majority leader of the National Assembly.
Ruto’s visit comes barely two weeks after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua visited Mombasa for the official opening of the 119th Mombasa Agricultural Show on November 3.
During the event, Gachagua told Mombasa residents how attempts to privatise the Port of Mombasa were thwarted.
“Towards the tailend of the previous government [President Uhuru’s administration], there were plans to take away the Port of Mombasa,” Gachagua said.
He said the Kenya Ports Authority board of directors refused to approve the privatisation of parts of the Port of Mombasa.
During the inauguration of President Ruto on September 13, he issued orders for the clearing of goods and other attendants operational to be reverted to the Port of Mombasa.
During the campaigns, Ruto had made a commitment to coastal residents that he would rescind the June 6, 2018, directive that directed all port operations to be transferred to Nairobi and Naivasha.
Ahead of Ruto’s Friday visit, Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen arrived at the Port of Mombasa on Thursday morning for a half-day tour.
The CS arrived at the port at 9am and held a closed-door meeting on port operation with KPA’s top officials.
According to KPA, Murkomen was expected to tour the first and second phases of the second container terminal, the standard gauge railway marshalling yard, the conventional cargo section and the new Sh40 billion new Kipevu Oil Terminal.
He was expected to also tour the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone.