From leaky pipeline to poor roadworks, Kenya losing billions

The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) managers tour the Suswa power sub-station. (Anthony Gitonga, Standard)

Infrastructure development has in the recent past driven growth, as the country tries to play catch up following years of little and in some cases no investments in infrastructure.

Different Government entities, however, appear to be getting the short end of the stick as far as the implementation of many key projects is concerned.

Among those that are experiencing difficulties delivering on their mandate include the Sh48 billion pipeline that was completed last year. Barely one year into operation, the pipeline has experienced a major leak as well as suffered siphoning, where petroleum products that maybe worth hundreds of millions were lost.

Another is the Eastern Bypass. While it opened up places like Utawala, enabling motorists to avoid the Nairobi’s Central Business District and the snarl ups associated with the city, it appears to have outlived its usefulness barely five years after its commissioning.

Now, the Government has to fork out another Sh40 billion for dualling it.

The country also appears to be paying a premium whenever it comes to implementation of infrastructure projects, with neighbours paying just a fraction of what the country pays for the same projects.

Such is the case with the Standard Gauge Railway, where Ethiopia paid $3.4 billion (Sh340 billion) for 750 kilometre railway compared to the Kenya’s 450KM Mombasa-Nairobi railway cost about Sh327 billion.

Some roads cost upwards of Sh1 billion a kilometre, fairly pricey in comparison to what has been built in the past, including the Thika Highway that is a reference point of sorts for Kenya’s mega infrastructure.

Corruption and poor oversight during the design and construction phases are among the factors contributing to projects not living up to their expectations.

“Road construction costs, like all major infrastructure projects, are being held hostage by among other reasons single sourcing of contractors in questionable government to government deals and kickbacks,” economics lecturer Dr Samuel Nyandemo said in a recent interview.

“Otherwise, why would there be a huge difference between the costs of a road constructed in Kenya and its neighbours?”

The Institute of Economic Affairs in a recent report analysing the Auditor General’s reports and their take on procurement in Kenya noted the fight on graft should also review how procurement is done in the country. This, it noted, will ensure the country gets value for money. This includes further opening up the procurement processes.

“Different countries across the globe have adopted various tools to reduce corruption while reinforcing competition and efficiency in procurement procedures. Over 40 countries have  commitments between civil society and government to make government procurement more open through the Open Government Partnership,” said the IEA report.

“To address the issues arising in the tendering phase of the procurement cycle, all persons participating in a public procurement process for a specific contract should access the information relating to request for proposals, bids submission, bids evaluation and contract award at the same time. Some suppliers accessing crucial information on tenders earlier than their competitors have undue advantage over the other suppliers.”

New Pipeline

The new Mombasa-Nairobi pipeline has in the last one year it has been in operation hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The Sh48 billion pipeline that started operations in August last year reported a leak at Kiboko area, Makueni County in March.

And last month, authorities discovered a syndicate that had been siphoning fuel from the pipeline at Mavoko, in Machakos County.

The firm that built the pipeline Zakhem International blamed the Ministry and Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC) for the challenges that the pipeline faces in its implementation face.

It, however, might turn out to be valid concerns that there are more risks as there were numerous flaws with the designs. Zakhem said the woes afflicting the pipeline are as a result of KPC ignoring advice given by its engineers on such areas as installation of a leak detection system and anticorrosion systems.

Zakhem and KPC are being probed by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for a tender variation where it was demanding an extra Sh4.4 billion for delays experienced in construction of the pipeline.

To add to the concerns about the new pipeline is the reluctance by oil marketers to move their products through the pipeline, despite being cheaper and safer. It had been expected to take some 700 oil tankers off the road but this is yet to be achieved with oil marketing companies still opting to use road instead of the easier and cheaper pipeline.

NSSF’s Hazina trade towers

The National Social Security Fund  (NSSF) broke ground for the Hazina Trade Towers in 1997. about 22 years later, it is still work in progress.

NSSF last week told Parliament that it would in December complete construction works at the Hazina Trade Towers that has stalled for more than a decade.

It is an ambitious timeline and even if it will be met, the Hazina Trade Towers that will be put up will be nothing like what was envisioned in 2013, when NSSF restarted construction of what was to be one of the tallest buildings in Africa.

Instead of the 39 floors, it will be a 15 floors stump and have none of the grand architectural designs inspired by a Masai moran standing crossed legged and using a spear for support, a signature pose among the Masai.

Resumption of constriction, which was expected to last three years, faced challenges that have stalled works on the building. These have included tenants that have argued that construction works are robbing them customers as well as city engineers from the County Government that expressed concerns about the structural stability of the building and whether the foundation can support a 39 floor building.

Outer Ring Road

The upgrade of the 13 kilometre road that connects Thika Highway at Ruaraka and North Airport Road at what was Taj Mall has substantially eased flow of traffic on the road. What took hours owing to the bad state of the road now takes a matter of minutes.

It is, however, not lost on anyone who cares to give the road a second glance the oversights, some of which are now being rectified at a heavy cost. Among these are footbridges that were installed much later at an extra cost of close to Sh1 billion and are yet to be completed.

The road also came with minimal bus stops, despite the huge number of residents in the areas served by the road using public transport.

The road does not have clearly marked pedestrian walkways or cycling lanes. There are also lanes that are missing when the complete project is compared with the initial design.

But it is where the road starts and terminates – at Ruaraka and Taj Mall – where there were major oversights and whose modifications are coming at a heavy cost. At Ruaraka the Government has redesigned the overpass and is currently modifying it.

The 13 kilometre Outer Ring Road was constructed at a cost of Sh14 billion and completed in June 2017.

Eastern Bypass

The Ministry of Transport is also planning to dual the Eastern and Northern bypasses, just a few years after the two roads were completed. Both roads, with a combined length of 51.6 kilometres, their modification in to dual carriageway will be at a cost of Sh40 billion, according to an environmental report by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority, and take two and a half years to complete.

The Eastern Bypass was completed in 2012 at a cost of Sh9.3 billion and the need to expand it brings to fore major oversights, which is now a pain for users that endure snarl ups for hours on end. It is also notorious for many fatal accidents and also appears designed solely for vehicle traffic with the absence of other amenities for non-motorised traffic.

Loiyangilani-Suswa power line

The high voltage power transmission line cost almost twice as much as it was expected to cost following myriad problems mostly attributed to a broke Spanish contractor.

The 428 kilometre line was initially supposed to cost Sh15 billion but this had shot by Sh28 billion by the time it was completed. The line evacuates power from the Lake Turkana Wind Power plant.

The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company in a breakdown of its projects prepared for presentation to the Parliamentary Committee on Energy noted that the Loiyangalani-Suswa transmission line would cost Sh28 billion by the time it is completed.

This is an 86 per cent jump in the cost of constructing the power line, which has already proved costly for taxpayer due to delays.

The construction contract was awarded to a consortium of two Chinese firms – NARI Group Corporation and Power China Guizhou Engineering Company, which were able to deliver it within new timelines after the initial contractor Isolux Corsan of Spain went bankrupt. It

Construction delays also come at a cost, with the owners of the wind farm in Marsabit County having been paid Sh5.7 billion by the Government as penalty for the delay in completing the line.