After perennial promises, Nithi bridge project finally starts

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki commissioned the official construction of the Nithi Bridge. [Phares Mutembei, Standard]

After years of promises by successive governments, the construction of a new Nithi Bridge has finally started.

The bridge, opened in 1985, has for decades claimed hundreds of lives and left many survivors with life-changing injuries and mental anguish.

The project of doing a new bridge has now started, with Deputy President Kithure Kindiki on Friday, October 22, visiting the blackspot in company of MPs Gitonga Murugara (Tharaka), Patrick Munene (Chuka-Igambang'ombe) and Kareke Mbiuki of Maara,.and others.

The Sh7.5 billion project is expected to take two years.

'I have come here today to inspect the construction of the new Nithi bridge. The existing bridge was built in 1985 during the administration of President Daniel Arap Moi, and people began losing their lives there that same year. Buses, lorries and private vehicles have all been involved in accidents at that bridge," Kindiki said at the site where the contractor and workers have just started the works.

The DP said people started asking for the bridge to be redesigned and rebuilt the same year (1985), but it did not happen during the reign of former late presidents Daniel Moi, Mwai Kibaki and retired president Uhuru Kenyatta.

"For 17 years, during President Moi’s administration, the government did not have the money to construct a new Nithi bridge," Kindiki recounted.

Reacting to opposition leaders who had accused President Ruto of not delivering on his election pledge to build a new bridge, Kindiki said:

"Between 1985 and 2002, nobody told President Moi to serve only one term. He eventually retired, and the late Mwai Kibaki became Kenya’s third President. We, the people of Tharaka Nithi, voted overwhelmingly for Kibaki. This constituency of Maara, then part of the larger Nithi constituency, played a critical role in securing his presidency when the election results were being contested. We thought that now that our own man was in power, the Nithi Bridge would be built."

The DP said that for the 10 years of the Kibaki administration, the leaders pleaded for a new, modern bridge, but the government did not have enough funds to build it.

"Kibaki retired with that debt still unpaid, yet nobody told him to serve only one term, and nobody held demonstrations against him over the bridge. President Uhuru Kenyatta was also one of our own. I was his lawyer when he and William Ruto were at the ICC in The Hague. When he became President, he was a friend to many of our leaders here. I thought that the man I had helped at The Hague, together with his deputy, would ensure that the Nithi Bridge was built. But was it possible? The money was not available."

Kindiki said President Uhuru eventually retired without the bridge being built, "yet nobody dared tell him to serve only one term."

He said it was lack of funds that delayed Ruto's pledge to build the bridge.

"When President William Ruto took office, we found the economy in a difficult position. We decided that there were things we had to do before embarking on road construction. We had to reduce the cost of fertiliser for farmers, which had been SSh7,000 per bag, to Sh2,500. We also had to address agriculture and the wider economy,” he said, adding that road contractors across Kenya had abandoned their sites because the government owed them huge sums of money.

“Here in Tharaka Nithi, roads had stalled. Across the country, road construction had ground to a halt,” he said.

Kindiki said some projects, because of the bad economy, stalled in 2020 and 2021, including the Weru–Chogoria Road.

"By God’s grace, we have put things in order. Although we took some time, we have now paid contractors the money owed to them across the country. We have paid every contractor who was owed money. Some of those arrears had been outstanding for the last six years. We have cleared Sh177b in the Republic of Kenya, and contractors are now back on site."

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki commissioned the official construction of the Nithi Bridge. [Phares Mutembei, Standard]

He said after paying contractors, stalled road projects in the region had been revived, and new roads have started, including the Mitheru-Muthenge–Giampampo–Kamachuka Road.

"That is when we found the opportunity to pursue a modern Nithi bridge, one that is not an ordinary bridge. In 2024, road engineers brought me a design for the new bridge. I asked them to explain what they intended to do before presenting it to the President. After examining the design, I realised that it was only slightly better than the existing bridge and would not solve the problem. It would have cost the government between Sh1.7b and Sh1.8b yet accidents would still have occurred there. I told them that patience brings good results,” Kindiki said.

He added: "Why the rush now that we are in office, when there was no such urgency during the 17 years of President Moi and the 10 years each of Presidents Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta?

I told the engineers to go back and design an internationally competitive bridge. The bridge we are constructing here will cost Sh7.5b. It will rise from the Marima side and extend towards Mitheru, almost one kilometre above the ground.

Nithi bridge will be designed according to international engineering and safety standards to minimise the risk of accidents."

The DP said people had suffered enough misfortune at Nithi, "and we do not want any more problems."

The bridge will cost Sh7.5b and will be almost one kilometre long. On both sides, with approach roads covering 2.7 kilometres.

The Marima and Mitheru will be connected through the bridge and the connecting roads.

According to Kindiki, there is no other bridge in Kenya quite like the new Nithi Bridge, apart from the Dongo Kundu bridge over the Indian Ocean. Even the Nyali Bridge, which crosses the water at Nyali, is only about 500 meters long.

He said it will be the second-longest bridge in the country, with only the Dongo Kundu Bridge extending farther over the Indian Ocean.