Kenya has secured a Ksh40 Billion loan from China to help in unlocking stalled projects in 15 counties at a time when President William Ruto has been making development tours across the country.
National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee chairperson and Kiharu Member of Parliament (MP) Ndindi Nyoro made the revelations, saying that the deal inked by the two countries will see contractors go back to the sites as soon as the month of September.
Stalled projects have been a headache for the current administration and have exposed it to ridicule and sharp criticism. In some instances, some projects never took off since they were launched while others stalled midway.
To wipe off that shame, MP Nyoro said that the government has secured the Ksh40 billion loan from China to help jump start the stalled projects which are concentrated in 15 counties where contractors had left the sites due to lack of funds.
According to the lawmaker, the country’s budget is under pressure from the stalled projects and heavy funding is required to actualize the infrastructural projects, with a greater headache being the pending bills accrued.
Govt Secures Loan to Revive stalled projects
The new funding from China targeting 15 counties is also expected to spill over to neighboring counties where the roads stretch.
“For the last 10 years, we of course bit more than we could chew. When it comes to infrastructural projects, we started so many we ended up having a lot of stalled projects. Most of these stalled projects are inroads where we have commitment of over Ksh800 billion,” said Nyoro.
“We took around 15 projects stalled projects spread across many counties roads that have not been done over 20% in terms of the works done.”
Also Read: Hussein Mohamed Explains Why Ruto is Relaunching Uhuru’s Projects
Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo counties had stalled projects, one being the Tot-Sigor road that cuts across the two counties which is now set to benefit from the new funding.
Roads set for completion
In Embu, the Kanyuambora road has been identified to have stalled for some time while in Kiambu, the Laini-Gacharage road has been earmarked for a marathon construction.
The Rioma-Marani road in Kisii County has also been listed for completion. In Kirinyaga, the 95 km road project dubbed the belt of Gichugu which snakes through all the five wards in the constituency and the Piai-Muranduko road are also part of the new government intervention.
Makueni’s Tawa-Nguruni-Itagine road will also see contractors come back to the site with MP Nyoro, at the same time, saying that the contractors are expected to be on sites by month of September.
“The beauty about these 15 projects is that they are long they are like 90 km 45 to 42 long trunk roads and these roads we have secured funding that will oversee their completion,” Nyoro said.
Nakuru County government has spammed part of the money to the Njoro-Piston and Elburgon road that has stalled for some time, with other counties also listed in the quick government intervention being Nyeri, Taita Taveta and Nyamira.
The budget committee says it is working to regularize allocations to pending bills that currently stand at Ksh150 billion in infrastructural projects.
Ruto launches new projects, relaunches stalled ones
This new development comes at a time President William Ruto has been making development tours across the country where he has both launched new projects and relaunched stalled ones.
Also Read: New Jobs for Kisumu Residents as Ruto Unpacks Goodies in Ksh5.7 billion Project
On relaunching projects initiated by former President Uhuru Kenyatta, the government has defended itself after facing criticism from a section of Kenyans.
State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed in statement on Saturday, August 17, emphasized that President Ruto’s actions reflect his responsibility to complete all feasible projects, including those initially launched before his election but have stalled.
However, the President has also initiated new projects with a recent spree of launches witnessed in his development tour of the Nyanza region.
Ruto on Wednesday, August 28, kicked off his development tour in the Nyanza region where he has since launched government projects in Migori, Homa Bay, and Siaya counties.
On Wednesday, Ruto kicked off his tour in Migori County where he launched the Kegonga Cluster Water Project, inspected the Lower Kuja Irrigation Project and closed his project tour in Migori with a launch of the Ngere-Mapera Road.
Ruto, on Thursday, toured Homa Bay County where he commissioned the Oyugis Water Project, inspected the Homa Bay Fish Market and launched the Rusinga Ring Road.
On his third day of the tour, the president was in Siaya County where he commissioned the Mageta Island Solar PV Mini Grid and launched the Siaya ESP Market and the Siaya Rice Mill.
The President will close his Nyanza tour on Saturday by commissioning the Nyabondo Trauma Centre in Kisumu.
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