By Suleiman Mbatiah
President William Ruto has unveiled a comprehensive plan to overhaul Kenya’s transport network, including the dualing of 2,500 highways and the tarmacking of 28,000 kilometres of roads in the next decade.
In his State of the Nation Address delivered in Parliament, the President said Kenya must strengthen its position as the region’s commercial and diplomatic hub by investing heavily in modern, efficient transport systems.
The President said the national priorities he outlined, including transport and logistics, will cost at least Sh5 trillion, also explaining that the government intends to finance the programme sustainably through the National Infrastructure Fund and the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
“As the region’s economic and diplomatic hub, home to the UN’s largest office in the Global South, and the sixth-largest economy in Africa, Kenya must maintain world-class seaports, airports, highways and digital corridors,” he said.
Ruto said efficient transport is “the backbone of our competitiveness,” noting that it links producers to markets, lowers business costs and reinforces Kenya’s status as the aviation and commercial capital of East and Central Africa.
He also drew a link to global examples, saying history shows that nations rise on the strength of transport and logistics. He cited Japan’s post-war revival, noting that its strategic road expansion grew from about 2,000 roads to more than a million kilometres of paved roads in seven decades, while Kenya has built only 22,000 kilometres over a similar period.
To kickstart the programme, the President said he would next week launch the dualing of the 170-kilometre Rironi–Naivasha–Nakuru–Mau Summit Road, adding that the gridlock that paralyses the route daily, especially on weekends and holidays, would soon be a thing of the past. On the same day, he will break ground for the 58-kilometre Rironi–Maai Mahiu–Naivasha dualing project.
A wide network of other roads has been earmarked for dualing. They include Muthaiga–Kiambu–Ndumberi; Machakos Junction–Mariakani; Mau Summit–Kericho–Kisumu; Kisumu–Busia; Mau Summit–Eldoret–Malaba; Athi River–Namanga; Karatina–Nanyuki–Isiolo; Makutano–Embu–Meru–Maua; Mtwapa–Malindi; Mombasa–Lunga Lunga; Kericho–Kisii–Migori–Isebania; Nakuru–Nyahururu–Karatina; Kisii–Oyugis–Ahero; the Northern Bypass; James Gichuru Road; Bomas–Karen–Ngong; Bomas–Ongata Rongai–Kiserian; Ngong–Isinya; and Naivasha–Kikuyu.
Ruto also confirmed that the government will extend the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha to Kisumu and eventually to Malaba, noting that construction is scheduled to begin in January 2026 as part of the broader effort to scale up the country’s transport and regional logistics network.