President William Ruto on Friday, April 7, explained his move to relaunch a road project he commissioned in 2018 in Nyandarua County to a myriad of challenges faced during his predecessor - Uhuru Kenyatta's second term.
In a video shared by Statehouse Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed, the Head of State explained that the project stalled during Uhuru's second term after his handshake with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
He further indicated that only half a kilometre (500 meters) was constructed since its launch in November 2018.
He attributed the slow pace of the project's delivery to politics witnessed during the handshake period noting that it did a disservice to the project and outlined new timelines for its delivery
Further, the Head of State revealed that 30 kilometres of the road would be constructed in 10 months to enable the residents to benefit from the mega infrastructure project.
"We started the road in Captain and it stalled because of the handshake that was there.
"Half a kilometre of this road took five years to build but I promise that this 30-kilometre section will only take 10 months and I have told the contractor that," he explained.
Ruto first launched the project on November 26, 2018, while he served as the Deputy President under Uhuru's government.
The road project was to cover 55 kilometres stretching from Captain to Ol Kalou Town.
Following the relaunch of the project, a section of Kenyans criticised the Head of State over the move even as many wondered why the project had stalled.
The criticism from Kenyans saw Ruto's team post the video to clarify the matter.
In his statement, Hussein explained that the project was denied funds through political underhand dealings.
"During last year's election campaigns, President Ruto promised to complete all stalled projects, including roads. During the ‘Handshake’ (2018-2022), many projects he launched were deliberately denied funding even though they were in the government's programme.
"This was to frustrate the then Deputy President and his bid for the presidency," read the statement in part.
