AfDB releases Sh3.7 billion for Kisumu-Uganda expressway
The much-awaited Northern Corridor expressway linking Kenya and Uganda is now set to be upgraded to a two-lane dual carriageway to open up the East African region for trade and services.
The 256-kilometre project comes to fruition after the release of $1.4 million (Sh3.7 billion), for feasibility studies by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
According to AfDB, the studies will determine the economic viability of upgrading the existing multinational road sections from single-carriageway to expressway standards.
The upgrading of the Kisumu-Kisian-Busia/Kakira-Malaba-Busitema-Busia expressway is expected to improve the transport services to five land-linked East African Community (EAC) Partner States, namely Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The expressway project is part of the Northern Corridor that runs from Mombasa to Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda through to the Port of Mombasa.
It is the main corridor that transports the bulk of cargo that lands at the Indian Ocean ports inland to the five landlocked EAC Partner Sates.
Speaking during the site handover ceremony in Kisumu, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure, Productive, Social and Political Sectors, Aguer Ariik, said the feasibility study will take 18 months. He confirmed that the feasibility studies for the multinational Kisumu-Kisian-Busia in Kenya and Uganda’s Kakira-Malaba-Busitema expressway are set to start soon.
“It will involve rehabilitation of the existing two-lane single-carriageway to bitumen standards,’’ Ariik said.
Traffic movement
Currently, the sections of the roads forming the project consist of two-lane single carriageway bitumen sections that are heavily congested due to increased traffic movement for both cargo and passengers.
This has resulted in increased travel times which leads to higher vehicle operating costs and costs of doing business.
The objective of the feasibility study is therefore to determine the economic viability of upgrading the existing multinational road sections from single carriageway to expressway standards.
The project has been prioritised by the respective Partner States and is expected to contribute to the delivery of economic infrastructure necessary for achieving tangible development outcomes for the region.
“The studies will be carried out as one integrated project but in two distinct packages to determine the economic feasibility of developing the corridors that connect the two countries to the main international port of Mombasa,’’ he said.
The rehabilitation along the Northern Corridor is also expected to contribute to strengthening road infrastructure within the EAC region to fast-track regional integration and spur cross-border trade.
“We expect Partner States to be also in the process of upgrading the other sections of the Northern Corridor from Mombasa through Nairobi up to Malaba and from Kampala westwards towards Katuna and Mpongwe,’’ Ariik said.
Godfrey Enzama, the Principal Civil Engineer at the EAC Secretariat said the road project will not only be expected to improve the transport flow, but also will address the issue of poor road safety along the corridor.
Luka Kameli, who represented the Principal Secretary at Kenya’s Ministry of EAC, ASALs and Regional Development said upgrading Kisumu-Kisian-Busia/Kakira-Malaba-Busitema-Busia expressway will boost economic sectors including imports, exports, mining, fresh farm produce business among others.
