President William Ruto said Kenya saved close to KSh60 billion by cancelling the Rironi-Mau Summit Road contract that had been awarded to a French consortium.
Speaking in Mombasa at the Kenya Comprehensive School Heads Association Conference, he explained that the government negotiated an exit from the Rift Valley Connect deal that had cost taxpayers KSh6.5 billion.
Ruto said the settlement required a payment of $50 million and warned that a court battle could have cost $200-300 million with no road being built.
The original consortium, made up of Meridian Infrastructure Africa Fund, Vinci Highways SAS and Vinci Concessions SAS, received the contract in 2020 but work never started because of a legal dispute.
The project is now being delivered by China Road and Bridge Corporation and is 40 per cent complete.
He noted the current programme will cost KSh191 billion, compared with the KSh249 billion that the French contract would have required, creating a difference of close to KSh60 billion.
The road is expected to be finished next year and will stretch 210 km, longer than the earlier 175 km design.
The Naivasha-Nakuru segment, 70 km long, has been widened from four to six lanes.
Under the new contract motorists will be charged KSh8 per kilometre, down from the previous KSh12 per kilometre.
The government is preparing a feasibility study to extend the corridor to towns such as Malaba, Eldoret, Kericho, Kisumu and Kisii.
Ruto said resources are already available for a visibility study covering the road to Malaba and that the extensions could be dualled within one to two years.
He also hinted that a plan to dual the Nairobi-Mombasa highway will be implemented within the next year.
