Kenya has cancelled plans to build 10,000 kilometres of roads through commercial bank loans due to concerns over the cost of the projects, according to a senior government official.
The government will now fund these mostly rural road projects through budget financing after scrapping the road annuity model adopted in 2015.
This development was confirmed by Roads Principal Secretary Joseph Mbugua while appearing before a section of lawmakers on Thursday, April 17.
As per Mbugua, the previous model led to the construction of only three roads measuring 172 kilometres at a cost of Ksh29.9 billion ($230.9 million) backed by two local banks and the government. "The projects have been too expensive and analysis showed that they were not returning value for money given the verdict on the high annuity costs," Mbugua stated.
