CS Chirchir explains why Rironi-Naivasha road will miss October deadline

Transport CS Davis Chirchir/XTransport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has attributed the delays in the completion of the Rironi-Naivasha dual carriageway to disruptions in global petroleum supplies arising from tensions involving the United States and Iran.

Chirchir said a shortage of bitumen, a key material used in road construction, had slowed down works on the highway, with prices more than doubling in the past six months.

Speaking on Friday during an inspection of the ongoing works, the CS attributed the supply challenges to disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, a major international shipping route through which petroleum products are transported.

“Challenges with the Strait of Hormuz, you know most of the petroleum products come from Iran. We have a challenge of bringing the small quantities, the price has gone up,” Chirchir said.

He disclosed that the price of bitumen had risen from Sh90 per kilogramme six months ago to Sh220 currently, increasing the cost of construction.

The Cabinet Secretary said the government was exploring ways of reducing the cost of importing the material by consolidating orders and bringing in larger vessels.

“If we consolidate and bring bigger vessels, we should be able to manage the cost of building our roads,” he said.

Despite the challenges, the CS expressed optimism that the contractor would complete the Rironi-Naivasha section before the end of the year.

He urged the contractor to honour the revised timeline and ensure the road is opened to motorists by December.

“We want to urge the contractor to keep to the promise and ensure that by December this road is fully opened up to Naivasha for traffic,” he said.

The latest timeline marks a shift from the earlier October 30 deadline, which Chirchir had announced in September when he said the Rironi-Naivasha section was expected to be completed and opened to traffic.

At the time, he indicated that once the section was completed, the government would shift its attention to the remaining portions of the corridor, including the Rironi-Mai Mahiu-Naivasha road.

The highway forms part of the Rironi-Mau Summit road project, which is expected to improve connectivity between Nairobi and the western parts of the country.

Chirchir said completing the dual carriageway would help ease congestion and reduce the time motorists spend on the road.

He added that the project was important in lowering the cost of doing business by improving the movement of people and goods along the busy transport corridor.

The Rironi-Naivasha route serves motorists travelling towards Nakuru and other destinations in the Rift Valley and western Kenya, making it a key link for passenger and commercial transport.

The government has maintained that the wider road project is intended to improve transport efficiency, reduce travel delays and support economic activity along the corridor.

Chirchir said the government expects the entire corridor to be completed by June 2027

Workers are laying the blacktop on the approach to the Ngarariga Interchange