Boost for youth, women and disabled as Kenya Urban Roads Authority awards multi-million tenders

NAIROBI: Youth, women and persons with disability stand to win big as the Government dishes out hundreds of millions worth of contracts to be executed exclusively by disadvantaged persons. The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) has invited bids for the periodic and routine maintenance of 30 kilometres of roads across the country to be taken up by disadvantaged persons.

This is half of the 61 kilometres of roadwork tenders earmarked for construction in several parts of the country, including Voi, Kericho, Siaya and Kitale, among other areas in the 2014/2015 financial year.

According to information by Kura, bidders must be registered with the National Construction Authority (NCA) and provide certified copies of registration certificates issued by the National Treasury or the respective County Treasury. In the 2013/2014 financial year, government awarded more than Sh500 million worth of tenders to disadvantaged persons.

This was part of the new procurement laws meant to provide the youth, women and persons with disability opportunities for State tenders.

KEY FUNDING

Roads Principal Secretary John Mosonik last year said the road authorities had jointly reserved over Sh5 billion for disadvantaged persons in the 2014/2015 financial year. Kenya recently embarked on a massive roads infrastructure development programme that is expected to see tarmac roads in the country almost double from 14,000km to 24,000km over the next five years.

The projects are expected to be funded through the private-public partnership model as the Government looks towards the private sector for finance. “The programme will be implemented in three phases. The first phase includes development of 2,000km, the second 3,000 km and the third 5,000km,” stated Eng Mosonik in a past interview.

“Through the annuity financing model, the Government intends to leverage on private sector investments and technical management  which is considered critical to improving and expanding service provision, besides meeting the financing gap.”

LUCRATIVE TENDER

Consulting firm Deloitte & Touche last month bagged the lucrative tender to serve as lead transaction advisors for the Government in the construction of the proposed second Nyali Bridge.

Other projects earmarked for the private sector include the tolling of Nairobi Thika superhighway, Nairobi Southern Bypass, the second Nyali Bridge and the dualling of sections of the Northern Corridor.

Kenya’s road infrastructure spend has increased almost ten-fold in the last ten years from Sh13.4 billion spent in the 2002-2003 financial year to Sh124 billion in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

In the 2014/15 financial year alone, the three roads authorities are carrying out periodic and routine maintenance interventions for roads in the entire country to the tune of approximately Sh16.5 billion.