Why you will pay Sh8.50 per km for the Rironi-Mau Summit Road

Rironi–Mau Summit highway users will pay new toll charges after completion. [Courtesy]

Kenya will have to grapple with two different toll tariffs for the Rironi – Mau Summit Road after it has been completed, after the government approved different rates for the road that has been split into two segments.

In a new disclosure yesterday, the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) said it had approved a toll tariff of Sh8.50 per kilometre for the Gilgil-Nakuru-Mau Summit section. It had earlier, on June 23, approved a Sh8 per kilometre toll rate for the Rironi-Gilgil and Rironi-Mai Mahiu-Naivasha roads.

The construction for the road, which broke ground in November last year, was split into two segments by two different firms. The firms will finance the construction and later operate and maintain the road, charging users to recoup their investments and raise funds for maintenance over 30 years, after which the road will revert to the government.

The consortium of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and Kenya’s National Social Security Fund (NSSF) will build the section between Rironi and Gilgil (81 kilometres) as well as the Rironi-Maai Maiu-Naivasha Road (58 kilometres), while the second segment between Gilgil and Mau Summit will be built by ShandongShandong Hi-Speed Road and Bridge International Engineering Co. Ltd (SDRBI).

In a statement yesterday, Kenha said motorists will pay Sh8.50 to use the 94-kilometre Gilgil-Mau Summit section. This is in comparison to Sh8 for the Rironi-Gilgil section it announced earlier.

“The Project will operate as a toll road. Applicable toll tariff is Sh8.50,” said the highways authority in a public notice.

“The Project Agreement provides for the design, financing, construction, operation, maintenance and eventual transfer of the Project assets to Kenha at the end of the concession period.”

It had made a similar disclosure last month on the Rironi in Limuru and Gilgil as well as the Rironi-Maai Mahiu-Nairobi that will be built by the CRBC-NSSF consortium, announcing that the applicable tariff will be Sh8.

This will mean motorists will pay about Sh648 to use the 81-kilometre section between Rironi and Gilgil and Sh464 to drive on the Rironi-Maai Mahiu Naivasha road. They will pay a further Sh800 to use the entire length of the Gilgil-Mau Summit Road once completed.

A motorist using the entire 175-kilometre road from Riironi to Mau Summit will pay about Sh1,448 to the two operators.

The project was split into two and handed to different contractors due to restrictions by China on its state-owned enterprises that have to secure what have been termed as lengthy approvals from Beijing for overseas investments upward of $1 billion. The upgrade of the entire project is expected to cost up to Sh200 billion ($1.54 billion).

President William Ruto broke ground for the project in November last year, during which he directed the contractors to complete the project by June 1 2027.

The upgrade will entail converting the road into a four-lane road between Rironi and Naivasha and a six-lane road between Naivasha and Nakuru. It will also entail the improvement and expansion of the 58-kilometre Rironi-Maai Mahiu-Naivasha Road into a four-lane road

The project has been estimated to cost between Sh170 billion and ShSh200 billion.

While different stakeholders agree on the need to upgrade the critical road that is part of the Northern Transport Corridor, offering connectivity to different parts of Kenya and the region, they have raised concerns about tolling the road. Motorists unwilling to pay will have to take alternatives that are not in proximity to the road.

The government is looking to increasingly fund infrastructure projects using the Public Private Partnership that is being employed on the Rironi-Mau Summit Road as it runs out of borrowing room and Kenyans resist attempts to tax them more to raise money to develop infrastructure.

Over the current 2025/26 financial year, the National Treasury said it has raised about Sh96 billion in private capital investment in PPPs, with the Rironi - Mau Summit Highway being the significant project that took shape during the year.

Treasury CS John Mbadi recently said the government targets to mobilise at least Sh70 billion over the 2026/27 financial year across different sectors, including energy, transport, water, housing, health and digital infrastructure.