President Uhuru Kenyatta's Ichaweri village is set for a major facelift if a Ksh11 billion road project being planned by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) is anything to go by.
The road project is nearing its final stages of approval after a gazette notice was issued for the public to makes its comments on the project ahead of KeNHA's plan to open the tendering process.
A report by Business Daily on Monday, July 27, indicated the highways agency had commenced design of the road estimated to be 62 kilometers in length.
The construction is expected to be completed by June 2022, just two months before president Uhuru Kenyatta's second term is scheduled to end.
The highway is expected to connect Kiambu Road to Thika Highway via Kirigiti, Ngewa, Ichaweri, Gatundu and Mang'u.
“The government has earmarked funds through the development vote for use in engaging the consultancy services to undertake preliminary and detailed engineering design, environmental and social impact study, preliminary and detailed engineering design of Kiambu – Ngewa –Kibichoi (B30) Road,” read an environmental impact assessment report by National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
KeNHA has also listed the project among the 11 big-budget upcoming projects in the country.
The construction of the highway is expected to be carried out in three phases, the 12-kilometre stretch from Kiambu Road to Ngewa, the 36-kilometre route from Ngewa to Gatund and the 14 kilometres from Mangu to Thika Highway.
This project is likely to absolve the head of state of blame for allegedly abandoning the region on development matters.
A number of local politicians had accused the president of marginalising the region while rolling out development projects in other areas.
The 62-kilometer stretch is expected to end traffic snarl-ups in Kiambu which has experienced a boom in demand for residential houses in recent years.
The Presidency has been under fire after claims emerged that their scorecard was poor, with some 1,356 projectS valued at Ksh4.9 trillion still incomplete.
63% of the projects valued at Ksh3.1 trillion were expected to be completed before his term came to a close.
