Taxpayers to spend Sh24.8billion on Nairobi Expressway, Treasury reveals
The Treasury has disclosed that taxpayers will spend Sh24.8billion on the Nairobi Expressway which was essentially sold as a privately funded road.
The Treasury documents revealed that the money outlay is more than the budget for the Nairobi Southern bypass or Nairobi Western Bypass, which cost taxpayers a total of Sh24.2 billion and Sh24.5 billion respectively.
The Nairobi Expressway, which links Westlands to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), was built by a Chinese contractor on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model at a total cost of Sh88 billion.
The Ministry of Water and Sanitation was one of the beneficiaries of an additional budget allocation on the highway.
“I draw your attention that the additional Sh7.76 billion budget to the ministry is meant for relocation of water and sewerage works ahead of the construction of the expressway,” said the then-chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee Kimani Ichung’wah.
The expenditure of Sh24.8 billion is in addition to a contingent liability of the multi-billion project that exposes the government to lawsuits should the project abort before the 27 years that the contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation, is expected to recover its investments.
The Nairobi Expressway is one of the several PPP projects for which the government has taken a letter of support covering political risks.
The Chinese firm is expected to earn an estimated Sh106.8 billion profit for the 27 years it will own the expressway.
