Why tolling of Mau Summit Road is still a thorn on its expansion

Nairobi Nakuru highway under construction at Rironi area. [George Njunge, Standard] Crippling traffic jams on the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway, which are increasingly becoming frequent, appear to make a case for the expansion of the road. The road, a critical transport artery for Kenya and its neighbours that use the corridor to import and export goods, has in the recent past experienced major snarl-ups; the latest being last week, where hundreds of motorists were left stranded overnight. For many, including government players, the major snarl-ups give credence to the need for the road's expansion. The government has had plans to upgrade the road through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and toll it. Last week, the Ministry of Transport began engaging the stakeholders as it seeks the buy-in of Kenyans, particularly on making motorists pay so as to use the upgraded road. While there is consensus on the need to expand the road, there is also opposition to plans to toll the road. Claims of senior government officials positioning themselves so as to supply key materials during the construction have also been rife within the project. READ: Rironi-Mau Summit road project snatched from France by China This is even as the government argues that there is no other way to fund the expansion of the road, other than tapping into private funds and charging the motorists to recoup their investment, enabling the private firms to recoup their investments with public debt already at alarmingly high levels. The upgrade of the road, which is managed by the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha), has been in the works for years. The Jubilee Administration had awarded a consortium of French firms the contract to build the 175-kilometre road through the PPP model and operate it for 30 years, during which the firms would have recouped their investments. The contract to Rift Valley Highway (a consortium of Vinci Highways SAS, Vinci Concessions SAS, and Meridiam Infrastructure Africa Fund) was, however, cancelled by the Kenya Kwanza regime on concerns of high toll fees and unfavourable terms, including the requirement that the government cover financial shortfalls. Kenya paid the French firms Sh6 billion for the cancellation of the deal. The government is now scouting for firms to build the road. Kenha has since received two Privately Initiated Proposals (PIP), one from a consortium of China Road and Bridge Corporation Kenya (CRBC) and National Social Security Fund (NSSF), while the second one is from Shandong Hi Speed Road & Bridge International Engineering Co. Ltd. Kenha is also evaluating a third proposal by Multiplex Partners. Connecting countries The firm that clinches the deal will dual the road from Rironi to Mau Summit as well as improve the Rironi-Mai Mahiu-Naivasha Road. "The A8 road section is part of the Trans-African Highway (Northern Corridor) that connects Kenya to Uganda. The route experiences heavy traffic due to the movement of goods and people, playing a vital role in trade and regional connectivity within East Africa," said Kenha in a recent statement on the project. "Given the fiscal constraints in Kenya, the PPP model allows for leverage of private sector expertise and resources to deliver infrastructure projects. This approach ensures efficient project execution and long-term sustainability." An aerial view of the Mau Summit interchange along Nairobi-Nakuru highway. [Courtesy, KeNHA] But the plan to toll the road has received opposition from different stakeholders. Among the factors that Kenya cited in cancelling the contract with the French consortium was the toll rates. The proposal then did not include toll-free options. This could still be the case for the road-to-road but also other roads that will be tolled in Kenya in future. A recently proposed road tolling policy says that it will not be mandatory for the Government to provide dedicated toll-free alternatives where roads are tolled. It, however, adds that appropriate measures will be taken to guarantee affordability, such as subsidies and discounts. Among those opposing the tolling is the Motorists Association of Kenya. The lobby termed the planned tolling of the road as a "neocolonial scheme" and further termed frequent traffic jams experienced on the road as well-orchestrated plans that are meant to coerce Kenyans to accept a tolled road. "Last week, for three consecutive days, motorists on the A8 Highway from Rironi through Naivasha, Gilgil and up to Mau Summit, were trapped in endless traffic, some spending nights in the cold. This was no accident. As Kenyans suffered, the Ministry of Roads and Transport issued a notice for 'public participation' on the same road section," said the Association, while calling on motorists to participate in the ministry's stakeholder engagement forums, but also sign a petition rejecting the plans to toll the road. "This is coercion - forcing citizens into consultations under duress. The government narrative is that the A8 is unbearably congested and urgently needs dualling through PPPs." ALSO READ: Why you could pay Sh1,000 to use Rironi-Mau Summit road "The recent jam was deliberately staged to justify surrendering our highways... to foreign profiteers. Toll roads will mean double taxation: Kenyans pay through taxes and fuel levies, then again at toll booths. A billion shillings per kilometre is fleecing the sovereign." Other than the major holdup that was experienced last week, there was another crippling jam experienced on May 9 and 10 this year, which took authorities 15 hours to clear. The jam, which the National Police Service said was on account of several factors, including heavy rains in parts of Nakuru County and accidents at Baruk and Sosyambu, started on a Friday evening and was only cleared the following Saturday at around 11am. Last year, in the days leading to Christmas Day, as people travelled upcountry, many were stranded on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, between Kimende and Fly Over, in a snarl-up that took over 12 hours to clear. "Kenyans in the Western part of Kenya deserve this road to be dualled, but it will not serve our economy when this road is packaged as a business model," said Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro. He noted that instituting tolling on the Rironi-Mau Summit Road is basically increasing the cost of doing business as motorists will be made to pay for the fuel, the Road Maintenance Levy (RML), which is factored in pump prices and and now, an extra cost of using the road. "If you increase the cost of transportation, what you are advising our neighbours to do is to look for alternatives, and I do not think this is good for our economy." Internal resources According to Nyoro, while the government may not have room to take up more loans, it has resources at its disposal to raise funds that fund critical infrastructure. These include funds that can be raised through the privatisation of some state corporations, which the Treasury is planning to undertake. "There are avenues to do that road through internal resources, including privatisation, that do not accrue more expenses," he said. "When we invest our own money, we diminish the cost of doing business. The government can optimise the resources that we have, invest in this road, and Kenyans can use it for free. When we fund it as Kenyans, it will be cheaper. If you look at the cost per kilometre, it will be over Sh1 billion because the finance cost has been loaded into this project. And the finance cost will end up being more than the money going into the road." He further noted that while on one hand, the private sector players stand to make billions every year in profits, they are fully shielded from any losses. At the same time, Nyoro noted that the CRBC-NSSF consortium would be employing workers' savings. Dual carriage construction plans at Mau Summit underway - Ruto "Whatever we are calling, PPP projects are largely public. We are just running away from responsibility and liability because we package a road as a PPP, but the main investor in the road is NSSF," he said, adding that the Treasury is doing experiments whose deeper analyses show they are bordering on recklessness. "We have now gotten into a slippery road." The PPP model is one that the government says it will increasingly use to fund infrastructure development. It is especially encouraged following the construction and operationalisation of the Nairobi Expressway, which is now seen as a model project. The country has, for years, been trying to attract private sector players to fund infrastructure projects, but this has been largely unsuccessful. According to data from the Treasury, Kenya has attracted only Sh140 billion since 2013 in PPP investments, with about half of this being invested in the Nairobi Expressway project, which cost about Sh80 billion. Among the factors that have held back the private sector are regulatory, financial, and institutional barriers that restrict effective mobilisation of domestic capital. "The project is being implemented under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework, leveraging private sector capital and expertise similar to the Nairobi Expressway, which has already demonstrated transformative benefits," said Davis Chirchir when he launched the stakeholder engagement process for the road to Mau Summit. "The Northern Corridor is a strategic corridor that serves as a vital artery linking Nairobi to Western Kenya, Uganda, the DRC, and beyond, making it one of Kenya's busiest and most economically significant transport corridors." "Once completed, the project is expected to significantly reduce travel time, enhance road safety, and improve logistics efficiency along the Northern Corridor, which is key to regional trade."

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