The government has announced plans to decongest towns like Kitengela, Rongai, Kajiado, Kiserian and Ngong among others.
In a statement on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the government has put up a team to explore the best ways to decongest towns in the Nairobi Metropolitan Area.
“We are currently discussing ways of decongesting towns like Kitengela, Rongai, Kajiado, Kiserian and Ngong among others, as part of the planned decongestion of urban centres within the Nairobi Metropolitan Area, and have put together a team composed of leaders from Kajiado County and road agencies to explore ways of doing so, including the possible adoption of solutions through PPP projects,” Murkomen said.
Murkomen also revealed that the Ministry of Roads is in the process of reviewing the formula for the allocation of the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) to accommodate roads that were upgraded to bitumen standard for the last 10 years but which do not have any maintenance allocation.
“These roads, also known as orphan roads, are distributed across the country, especially those constructed as Low Volume Seal Roads. Unfortunately, these roads were constructed without a plan for their maintenance, no wonder there is hue and cry across the country that some of them, including pending ones, are destroyed even before completion, among them the Imaroro-Isara road, in Kajiado East Constituency. We are in the process of reviewing the Road Maintenance Policy to accommodate these orphaned roads,” he said.
The government is also reviewing the Road Annuity programme as a model for road construction. According to Murkomen, the model consumes a large amount of money without providing value for money.
“As such, we are at advanced stages of negotiations on the delivery of the Illasit-Njukini road, in Kajiado South and Taita Taveta County, using conventional means instead of the annuity programme. We are also keen on completing pending road projects in Kajiado County including the Ngong-Suswa road which is a critical artery in the decongestion of the Northern Corridor,” he added.
Murkomen spoke after meeting Kajiado politicians including Senator Seki ole Kanar, MPs George Sunkuyia (Kajiado West), Onesmus Ngogoyo (Kajiado North), Memusi Kanchory (Kajiado Central), Kakuta Maimai (Kajiado East) and Samuel Parashina (Kajiado South).
