Sh41.6b ring road to be built along the shores of Lake Victoria, from Busia to Migori

NAIROBI: A State agency has announced plans to construct a Sh41.6 billion ring road around the shores of Lake Victoria.

The design for the proposed 450km road, to be funded by the World Bank, will be completed in December, according to a Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) official in charge of the project.

Kefa Seda, the KenHA special projects manager, told The Standard in an interview that the road will start from Bumula in Busia County near the border with Uganda and end at Muhuru Bay in Migori County.

"From Busia, it will cross to Siaya, Kisumu, Homa Bay and lastly come to an end at Migori County. Currently, we are conducting feasibility studies and holding stakeholders forums on the alignment of the proposed road," he said.

"The consultant we have engaged will come up with a detailed design of the project by December. The process of securing funds for construction is ongoing with the World Bank, and once approved, the tendering process for works will commence," said Mr Seda.

The completion of the highway will improve access to the lake shores given its socio-economic potential.

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The key road is also expected to accelerate free flow of goods and services across five counties while providing connectivity to the rest of the country's national road network, thereby spurring growth economic growth in the region.

The proposed road project in the Lake Basin comes as the construction of the One-Stop Border Posts (OSBP) at Malaba and Busia and towns are nearing completion.

According to KeNHA, the border posts which are expected to speed up the flow of traffic between Kenya and Uganda are partly operational, but will be officially launched next month after the work is completed.

Paul Omondi, a KeNHA engineer in charge of the two projects, said what is remaining at the Busia OSBP is only landscaping, which will be completed by the end of the month

"The Malaba one shall be complete by mid-July," said Omondi.

The two projects, funded jointly by the World Bank, Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) and the Government of Kenya under the East Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project, are expected to pave way for speedy clearances of goods moving within the two nations.

The Busia border post project was to cost Sh553 million, with Trade Mark East Africa having given 75 per cent of the funds while the Government of Kenya contributed the balance.

On the other hand, 75 per cent of the Sh555 million Malaba facility was donated by World Bank, with the Government pumping in the remainder.

Both border points are the most preferred entry point for commercial traffic into Kenya from Uganda and other commercial ports from the East Africa countries and Great Lakes region.

The one-stop border posts are being implemented across the region with an aim at promoting trade and transport facilitation in the East African member states of Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Apart from the Busia and Malaba borders, other special border posts in the region include Taveta-Holili border and the Namanga border (Kenya-Tanzania) and the Kanyaru-Akanyaru border (Burundi-Rwanda).

Others are the Mutukula border (Tanzania-Uganda), Moyale border (Kenya-Ethiopia), Gasenyi-Nemba border (Burundi-Rwanda) and Lunga Lunga-Horohoro border (Kenya-Tanzania).

Similar one-stop border posts on the Ugandan side of the border are already operational.