Speaking before the Senate on Wednesday, Roads
and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir stated that the project will significantly ease congestion on the busy Northern Corridor, which links Nairobi to Western Kenya and beyond.
“We plan to undertake the dualling of the
Rironi–Nakuru and Nakuru–Eldoret highways under the Public Private Partnership
process,” Chirchir said.
“We have gotten a number of concession proponents, and they are currently
going through the development phase. We expect to break ground before the end of
August, all going well.”
He explained that the dualing project will
stretch from Rironi to Nakuru, continue to Eldoret, and eventually extend to
Malaba.
He clarified the route, saying:
“Just to remind ourselves… Rironi is where
the current dualling ends and goes all the way to Nakuru, to Eldoret and all
the way to Malaba.”
Road dualling is converting a single-lane road into a dual-carriageway to
improve traffic flow and reduce congestion.
The CS further revealed that the Ministry of
Roads and Transport, through the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), is
preparing a new procurement process to facilitate the works.
He said both the A8 and A8 South sections of the corridor will be covered
under this plan.
“We will do Rironi, Mai Mahiu, Naivasha as a
bypass. It is called A8 South. So we'll do A8, which is Rironi, Naivasha,
Nakuru, all the way to Mau Summit,” he said.
According to Chirchir, no contractor has been
awarded yet.
The proposals are still undergoing evaluation under the PPP framework.
“As we speak, we do not have a contractor. They are currently being
evaluated,” he noted.
On-site preparations have already begun, with
technical teams conducting soil testing and other preliminary works, he said.
“When you drive on that road today, you will
find some people drilling the road to check the profile of the geotechnical
work in terms of the structure of the soils,” Chirchir said.
“We have given them some 10 days to finish that and give us the response so
that if we were to award, we’ll then be able to answer the second question on who the contractors are.”
On June 11, 2025, while meeting with Nakuru leaders at the State House in Nairobi, President William Ruto stated that the road works would begin in
August.
Ruto noted that the design work and other technical aspects of the project are
almost complete before he breaks ground on it in two months.
"We have agreed with the contractors to speed up the project and
complete it by 2027. If not, they should have done a substantial portion of it
by that time," he said.
He explained that the Rironi-Mau Summit Road would consist of four lanes
from Rironi to Naivasha town, as well as the Maai Mahiu-Naivasha road.
The President highlighted that the road will then be expanded to six lanes from Naivasha town to Nakuru City, in order to handle the high volume of traffic on the route adequately.
