The Kenya government is finally expected to commission the improvement of the Nunow Modogashe road, six years after portion of donor funding was secured.
Leader of Majority in the national assembly Mr. Adan Duale said in a social media post that President Kenyatta is expected to launch the much anticipated road project- the first one of its kind in the entire Northeastern Province.
“The Nunow – Modogashe Road, will be launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta next month. This is one of the Jubilee major infrastructure projects and pledges to the people” Duale said in a seemingly ecstatic Facebook post shared online with grim pictures of the desolate part of the road.
The project has been beset with delays ever since it was first planned in 2010. The expected commissioning thus comes more than half-a-decade after the government secured portions of funds to finance the regional road.
One of the first agreements was signed in July 2010 when Kenya Government received a loan of Sh810 million from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea).
The second loan was signed around November 2010 when Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) lent the Kenya government AED 37 million (($10 million), as part of project funding.
The other co-financiers of the project, which was initially estimated to cost Sh8.1 billion ($100 million) are Kuwait Fund ($20 million), Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund ($12 million), and Saudi Fund ($15 million). [ddownload id=”330″]
Kenya Government financial commitment to this project was initially estimated to be around $23 million when proposal for the project was submitted in 2010.
Nunow-Modogashe road, whose length is slightly over 145KM, is an important route that connects two of the biggest Northern counties: Garissa and Wajir.
Its improvement consists of constructing of a single carriageway road that will be expected to link the south of the republic with its marginalized north.