Ruto defends paying off French firm Ksh 6.5B to exit Rironi-Mau Summit road project

President William Ruto has said Kenya saved close to Ksh 60 billion for the cancellation of the contract for construction of the Rironi—Mau Summit Road which had been awarded to a French firm six years ago. Speaking in Mombasa during the Kenya Comprehensive School Heads Association Conference, President Ruto said Kenya negotiated for the exit of the contract awarded to by Rift Valley Connect which cost taxpayers Ksh 6.5 billion. “We reached out to the company and we negotiated and we exited because I could see clearly that the matter that the matter that was in court would cost us more money than the negotiations so we decided to pay $50M to exit because I could see clearly that a matter that has gone to court was going to cost us possibly $200-300 million and that no road would be built,” said Ruto. According to President Ruto, despite the consortium which included Meridian Infrastructure Africa Fund, Vinci Highways SAS and Vinci Concessions SAS being awarded the contract in 2020 by the previous administration, works had not begun owing to a court case. President Ruto has further defended the new cost of implementing the project which is being undertaken by China Road and Bridge Corporation and is currently 40% complete. “The road that we are building under the current programme is going to cost us Ksh 191 billion. The French contract was going to cost the Government of Kenya Ksh 249 billion. There is a difference of close to Ksh 60 billion,” he noted. The project which is expected to be completed next year covers 210km as opposed to the previous 175km while the Naivasha – Nakuru section which covers a distance of 70km as been redesigned to six lanes from four lanes. Under the new contract, motorists will also pay Ksh 8 per kilometer compared to the previous Ksh 12 per kilometer. This comes as the government prepares to embark on a feasibility study that will pave way for extending the road to other towns and cities along the corridor. “Already we have resources to do a visibility study on that road going all the way to Malaba. In another year or two that road will be in Eldoret and on the other side to Kericho, Kisumu and Kisii. We are going to dual all of that road,” added Ruto. Ruto also hinted at reviving the dualling of Nairobi – Mombasa highway saying the government already has a plan which will be executed within the next one year. The post Ruto defends paying off French firm Ksh 6.5B to exit Rironi-Mau Summit road project appeared first on KBC Digital .