Contractor to complete Sh18bn Kibwezi-Kitui road in December

Works on the Sh18.4 billion Kibwezi-Kitui–Migwani road that is set to ease traffic flow from Mombasa via Kibwezi, Kitui to Moyale is 90 percent complete, with the Chinese contractor racing against time to finish it by December.

Upgrading of the road, which is part of the Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project, to bitumen standard has been ongoing since August 2017.

The contract for the 192- kilometre (km) project was awarded to Sinohydro Corporation. The firm also constructed Thika Superhighway 10 years ago ahead of schedule.

“We have received excellent support from the County governments of Kitui and Makueni. The residents have fully supported the project,” Luke Xia, the deputy project manager said.

The road traverses Makueni and Kitui counties.

It starts from Kibwezi town about 210 km south of Nairobi and continues in a generally northward direction through Ikutha and Mutomo to Kitui. It then proceeds to Kabati and onwards through Tulia to Migwani.

It will provide a direct route from Mombasa to Ethiopia on a direct alignment with less steep slopes, avoiding the need to pass through Nairobi.

Works on the project include construction of a bypass in Kitui town, designed to ensure that existing businesses are not affected by the project.

The bypass, Sinohydro said, will pass through Manyenyoni near Kitui School to Syongila.

To enhance cooperation with the Kitui County, last month, the contractor rehabilitated two earth dams to provide water to more than 2,000 residents.

The dams are not part of the contracted works, but a donation from Sinohydro following appeals by Kitui West MP Edith Nyenze.