This archive report was first published on 13 October 2019.
On October 13, 2019, the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) awarded a Sh1 billion contract to Debroso Construction Company Ltd to maintain a section of the Nairobi-Thika Highway.
The 12-lane, 40km thoroughfare between Nairobi and Thika town was constructed by three Chinese companies: China Wu Yi, Sinohydro, and Sheng Li.
Debroso will be responsible for maintaining the Nairobi-Ruiru section of the highway under a 24-hour surveillance for two years, doing repairs and ensuring that feeder roads leading to the Nairobi central business district are also well-maintained.
Kenha had earlier warned that contractors who fail to maintain the road at required standards will be penalised.
Concerns have been raised that the cost of building and maintaining new roads has breached earlier limits set by the government, with Infrastructure and Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia warning 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.
