Kenya will turn its busiest trade route into a dual carriageway, President William Ruto has announced, unveiling plans to dual the Nairobi-Mombasa highway and extend the Rironi-Mau Summit road. He made the announcement on Sunday at an interdenominational church service in Nyamira County, where he is touring the Gusii region ahead of the 2027 general election.

The first phase of dualling the Rironi-Mau Summit highway is already under way and should be finished by December this year, the president said. The extension will then run from Mau Summit through Kericho and Kisii, upgraded to a four-lane dual carriageway that passes through seven counties before linking to the Eldoret-Malaba highway. Construction of that multibillion-shilling stretch is expected to start around April 2027, once the KSh200 billion Rironi-Mau Summit highway is complete.

Attention will then shift to the 482-kilometre Nairobi-Mombasa highway, the backbone of the Northern Corridor carrying freight from the Port of Mombasa to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Feasibility studies and designs for expanding the road are already complete and work could begin in 2027, Ruto said. An earlier plan to award the contract to US firm Everstrong Capital was dropped in favour of widening the existing road to four lanes, and Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir told the Senate a public-private partnership assessment is at an advanced stage.

Ruto also used the Nyamira service to challenge opposition leaders to present concrete development plans for 2027, and announced KSh11 billion for 180 kilometres of tarmac roads in the county, a new KSh1.7 billion Level 5 hospital and a KSh1 billion stadium. Kenyan Tribune reports the president will remain in Nyamira and Kisii for the next four days.