The Nairobi Expressway will cost the taxpayers a total of Sh24.8 billion, it has emerged.
This would be Sh9.7 billion more than the Sh15.1 billion that retired President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration said the road would cost Kenyans.
Treasury documents show that the government has already released a total of Sh5.93, and a further 18.9 billion remains outstanding.
The Treasury had released Sh5.93 billion by end of June last year.
This means that once the government releases the outstanding balance, taxpayers would spend a total of Sh24.8 billion.
This would be more than the Nairobi Southern Bypass and the Nairobi Western Bypass, which cost taxpayers a total of Sh24.2 billion and Sh24.5 billion respectively.
The 27.4 kilometre Double-Decker road running from Mlolongo to Westlands was constructed by a Chinese firm contractor under a public-private partnership (PPP) model at a total cost of Sh88 billion.
The Expressway links Westlands to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Last year, then Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the government had spent Sh15.1 billion on land compensation and transfer of utilities such as water, electricity and fibre optics.
It is one of former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s flagship projects.
The Chinese contractor is expected to rake in an estimated Sh106.8 billion profit for the 27 years it will manage the project and motorists also pay as much as Sh417 for single use.
There is an average daily traffic volume of 50,000 vehicles with the number expected to exceed an estimated 76,000 by mid this month.
It was opened on May 14, 2022.
It is the double taxation that has now raised concerns among a section of Kenyans who have called on President William Ruto to come out and make public the shareholders of the Expressway Company.
The road is managed by Moja Expressway Company.
Motorists have been paying either by cash, manual, or electronic toll collection cards.
“William Ruto cannot afford to cover up the many scams his predecessor Uhuru administration played on taxpayers,” city lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi said.
“Ruto must disclose to Kenyans who are the shareholders of the Expressway and whether members of the previous administration got 15 percent Equity as kickbacks.”
The government then said it would set another Sh9 billion to rehabilitate sections of the old Mombasa road that were damaged by the contractor.
