The Government of Kenya through the Kenya National Highway Authority (KenHa) has stepped in to fund the upgrade of the 26km James Gichuru-Rironi Road after World Bank pulled out of the project. The World Bank cancelled it share of US $157m for the project citing delays.
According to KenHa, the World Bank is no longer part of the project but treasury has stepped up and allocated US $125m to complete the project which is a key link to the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
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Delays in delivering the project
Construction works on site are progressing slowly due to the need for additional funds to compensate investors who gave land for the project. The cancellation from World Bank comes as Kenya was seeking to negotiate for US $96m to cater for unplanned land costs.
“The project deadline for this road is December 2019 as every World Bank project has a timeline and in this case the lender could no longer fund the road as timeline had lapsed and therefore the Treasury thought it was wise if we generate funds locally to complete the project,” KenHa director-general Peter Mundinia.
According to KenHa the project is a quarter done with 67% of the scheduled timeline already lapsed. However, the World Bank said they will give a response towards the same in the coming days.
The World Bank under its policy does not provide funds for land compensation or acquisition.
