President Ruto: Rironi To Gilgil Dual Carriage To Be Complete in 6 Months

President William Ruto has launched construction of the long awaited Rironi – Mau Summit dual carriageway, unveiling an ambitious timeline and promising faster, safer travel on one of Kenya’s busiest and deadliest roads.

The launch took place on Friday at Kamandura in Kiambu County, marking the official start of works on the Nairobi Nakuru Mau Summit corridor and the Nairobi Maai Mahiu Naivasha link, a combined 233 kilometre upgrade that will be built and operated under a public private partnership model.

Ruto framed the project as a defining test of his infrastructure agenda. “This project we launch today is more than a highway, it is a gateway to prosperity, unity and transformation,” he told the gathering at Kamandura, saying the new road should become a model for how Kenya delivers mega projects without piling on unsustainable public debt.

The Nairobi Nakuru Mau Summit section will cover about 175 kilometres from Rironi to Mau Summit, while the Nairobi Maai Mahiu – Naivasha spur adds another 58 kilometres, all upgraded into multi lane dual carriageways.

From Rironi to Naivasha the road will be a four lane dual carriage, then expand to six lanes between Naivasha and Nakuru to cope with heavier traffic into the Rift Valley hub.

At the same time, the President leaned heavily into timelines, telling residents that contractors would prioritise the stretch between the Rironi or Kamandura interchange and Gilgil and have it completed within six months, a promise that will be closely watched by frequent users of the highway who are used to years of stagnation and shifting deadlines.

Official government schedules still peg full dualling of the Rironi Nakuru Mau Summit road for completion by June 2027, with the Chinese led consortium given until the end of 2027 to finish works before entering a long toll collection period.

The project is being delivered by two consortia anchored by China Road and Bridge Corporation and Shandong Hi Speed Road and Bridge International, in partnership with Kenya’s National Social Security Fund and other investors.

Financing is structured as roughly 75 percent debt and 25 percent equity, with NSSF expected to put in nearly half of the equity on the section where it is a partner.

Under the deal, the private partners will design, finance, expand, operate and maintain the dual carriageway, then run it under a 28 year toll concession to recover their investment and earn a return, while the state regulates tariffs and identifies alternative non tolled routes for those who cannot or do not wish to pay.

Along the corridor, the upgraded road will feature modern interchanges, truck lay bays, pedestrian bridges, improved lighting, barriers, drainage systems and intelligent transport systems aimed at cutting accidents and easing recurring traffic snarl ups, especially around Naivasha, Gilgil, Salgaa and the approaches to Nakuru.

The Nairobi Nakuru Mau Summit highway is part of the Northern Corridor that links the port of Mombasa to Nairobi, Western Kenya and landlocked neighbours such as Uganda, Rwanda and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, carrying thousands of trucks and passenger vehicles every day.

Chronic congestion, long queues at blackspots and frequent fatal crashes have turned the existing single carriageway into a national headache and a major cost to transporters.

Ruto said the upgraded road should unlock trade, tourism and agriculture across Kiambu, Nakuru and neighbouring counties, pointing to farmers in areas such as Mau Narok, Eldoret, Kericho and Bomet who depend on the corridor to move wheat, barley and horticultural produce to Nairobi and the coast.

The government and project sponsors say at least 15,000 direct jobs will be created for Kenyan youth during construction, with thousands more in indirect opportunities for suppliers, small businesses and roadside centres along the corridor.

Youth recruited into the project are expected to receive technical training in road construction trades that officials say will remain useful long after the project is complete.

Friday’s launch also brought the financing story full circle. An earlier attempt to build the same highway under a French led concession collapsed after years of delays, forcing the state to terminate that deal and reopen talks, before finally turning to Chinese state owned firms and a new debt equity structure built around Kenya’s own pension savings.

Ruto argued that the new model will allow Kenya to push ahead with major roads while keeping direct public borrowing in check, and said the same approach will be used on other planned corridors including Muthaiga Kiambu Ndumberi, Machakos Junction Mariakani, Mau Summit Kericho Kisumu and onward to Busia, as part of a 10 year roads expansion programme.

KeNHA has already warned motorists to brace for traffic disruptions around Rironi and Kamandura as contractors move in heavy equipment, with diversions and traffic management measures expected at key junctions once full scale works start. Similar advisories are expected as construction shifts towards Gilgil, Nakuru and the Mau Summit area.

For road users who have sat for hours in holiday jams at Gilgil, Naivasha and Salgaa, the President’s six month pledge for the Rironi or Kamandura to Gilgil stretch will be the immediate benchmark, long before the broader 2027 deadline.

The next few months will show whether the bulldozers and asphalt plants match the politics of promise that accompanied today’s launch.

The post President Ruto: Rironi To Gilgil Dual Carriage To Be Complete in 6 Months appeared first on Nairobi Wire.