Infrastructure

State Approves Sh37bn Kiambu Road Dual Carriageway

The proposed dual carriageway will be built on an EPC framework.

Updated on

November 12, 2025

Graders at a worksite. — Earthmoving equipment at a construction site. (Photo: Courtesy)

The Cabinet has approved the dualling of the 23.5km Muthaiga–Kiambu–Ndumberi road, three months after cancelling a tender involving Chinese contractors.

In a bulletin issued on Tuesday, the Cabinet said the move was necessary to ease traffic congestion and improve mobility between Nairobi and Kiambu counties.

“Cabinet noted that the corridor, serving Muthaiga, Runda, Ridgeways, and Kiambu Town, currently experiences chronic traffic congestion during peak hours,” the bulletin said.

The project is expected to expand the existing two-lane highway (B32) into a dual carriageway complete with bypasses, loops and access roads to increase capacity.

“The dualling is part of the government’s broader effort to modernise Nairobi’s metropolitan transport network in line with Kenya Vision 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals on infrastructure and mobility,” the bulletin added.

In July, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KenHA) cancelled the international tender for the project ahead of its closing date, scheduled for August 22, 2025, without explanation.

It is not clear whether the tender will remain restricted to Chinese contractors.

Sinohydro Corp

In April 2023, Roads Principal Secretary, Joseph Mbugua, said the government – through the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura), had entered into a deal with Chinese firm Sinohydro Corporation Limited for execution of the dualling project.

Mbugua said the project would be executed under the Engineer-Procure-Construct (EPC) framework – a construction model where a contractor agrees to engineer, procure, and construct a specified structure.

The Kiambu Road dualling project, which passes through Muthaiga-Kiambu-Ndumberi is estimated to cost $286.1 million (Sh37.2 billion), which includes $55.3 million (Sh7.2 billion) for land acquisition and relocation of services.

The project is expected to be funded by the Kenyan government in partnership with China through the China Exim Bank.

In 2023, the Ministry of Roads and Transport wrote to the National Treasury requesting the allocation of funds for the execution of the project’s preparatory activities.