In our series of letters from Afrikaans journalists, Ismail Einashe looks at the transport problems in Kenya while they are in the capital.
On another hot, sticky afternoon in Nairobi, I get stuck in another hour-long jam in the city’s famous traffic jams.
But in recent months, this situation has worsened as a result of the construction of the Nairobi highway, which has injected new chaos into the capital.
When completed, it will be a 27 km (17 miles) highway, some of which is high, connecting the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the east of the city with the Nairobi-Nakuru highway in the west.
The $ 550 million (£ 410 million) project plans to dramatically change the city’s skyline and is intended to facilitate traffic flow to and from the center of East Africa’s main commercial center.
Kenyan officials described the highway as an essential infrastructure project that would spur modernization.
The partially elevated highway was proposed about ten years ago, but delays meant it was only launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in October.
Yet the speed of its construction has surprised many Nairobians. It already looks like a giant rash through the city and the constant buzz of construction noise, trucks sweeping up dust and squeaking car horns all add to the confusion.
‘Elites zoom bo’
It is funded and built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) – and the Chinese firm will operate the highway under a public-private partnership.
This means that the four- and six-lane two-lane, with ten interchanges along the route, are not free to use – drivers will reportedly have to pay a toll of between $ 2 and $ 3.
The goal of improving Nairobi’s roads seems to be a laudable cause, but some believe it could exacerbate the city’s traffic problems and the huge social and economic divide.
Most residents use matatus – the privately inflated minibuses – or boda boda motorcycle taxis to travel to and from work.
However, there are still questions about whether this form of transportation can afford the tolls for using the highway.
This could mean that they are left in the jam under the highway while the elite above them zoom past.
Another point of contention is the environmental impact of the project. Internationally, the focus was on Nairobi’s famous fig tree, which saved the president after a shout.
Yet hundreds of other trees are being cut down to make way for the new road, and fighters have little confidence that there will be replanting – and that will also mean the permanent loss of some green areas and the destruction of bird habitats.
Many see it as a destruction of the legacy of Kenyan Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai, who has been famous for major government-backed developments in Nairobi.
This highway project has been in Kenya’s infrastructure-supported infrastructure in Kenya for the last few years.
In 2019, I took the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Nairobi to the port city of Mombasa – a comfortable six-hour journey, though the ticket price and check-in made it feel more like a flight.
The $ 3.2 billion railway project, built and funded by China, was intended to connect the coast to the city of Naivasha, 76 km northwest of Nairobi, and then to the capital of Uganda, Kampala.
But it has now been suspended because Kenya could not obtain Chinese funding to complete the line. For the time being, construction work is suspended until the finances are sorted out.
As a result of the SGR, Kenya is now heavily indebted to China, with Chinese loans jeopardizing 21% of its foreign debt.
This has left some wondering about the wisdom of the Nairobi Highway.
However, no matter what the cost to Nairobians, it looks like this project will be finished – in fact, the Chinese company that built it announced it would open six months ahead of schedule – just in time for Kenya’s next presidential election. in 2022.
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