Equality concerns as Mau Summit toll road plan shunts motorists to poorer roads

Traders at Mau Summit area along the Nakuru – Eldoret Highway are seen running after a car at the middle of the road on August 26, 2020 to sell their wares to the passengers on board. [File, Standard]

The Kenya Kwanza government's plan to build a key highway as a toll road is facing growing scrutiny over its promise to provide free alternative routes, with critics warning the project could create a transport system divided along wealth lines, even as authorities defend it as crucial for economic growth.

Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has named a consortium of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) as the preferred bidder for the 233-kilometre Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway - a vital trade corridor linking the port of Mombasa to landlocked neighbours.