Little-known Debroso wins Sh1bn Thika highway maintenance deal

A little-known construction company has been awarded a Sh1 billion contract to maintain a section of the Nairobi- Thika Highway.

The Sh31 billion road under the control of the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) will now be managed by Debroso Construction Company Ltd.

The 12-lane, 40km thoroughfare between Nairobi and Thika town was expected to ease traffic in the capital and was constructed by three Chinese companies: China Wu Yi, Sinohydro and Sheng Li.

Debroso will be expected to keep the Nairobi-Ruiru section of the highway under a 24-hour surveillance for two years doing repairs, according to tender details made public by Kenha.

The mandate of the company extends to other feeder roads of the section of the highway that leads to the Nairobi central business district.

Kenha had earlier said a contractor given the job would be penalised if the road is not maintained at required standards. The latest award comes amid mounting concerns that the cost of building and maintaining new roads has breached earlier limits set by the government. Infrastructure and Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia warned in 2016 that road firms that bid for up to Sh300 million per kilometre to build new roads would have to do with prices of between Sh90 million and Sh100 million.

An assessment by Business Daily of ongoing road projects across the country shows a majority of the crucial infrastructural projects have breached the ideal cost ceilings.