In our series of letters from African journalists, Ismail Einashe considers Kenya’s transportation problems while he is stuck in traffic in the capital.
On another hot, humid afternoon in Nairobi, I find myself stuck in yet another hour of congestion on the city’s famous congested roads.
But in recent months this situation has worsened further due to the construction of the Nairobi Expressway, injecting a new level of chaos in the capital.
When completed, it will be a 27 km (17 mile) highway, some of them elevated, which will link Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the east of the city with the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway in the west.
The $ 550 million (£ 410 million) project is set to drastically change the city’s skyline and aims to facilitate the flow of traffic in and out of the center of East Africa’s main shopping center.
Kenyan authorities described the expressway as an essential infrastructure project that will spur modernization.
The partially elevated highway was proposed about 10 years ago, but the delays meant it was only launched in October by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
However, the speed of its construction is surprising many Nairobiians. It already looks like a giant cut across the city and the constant hum of construction noise, trucks raising dust and car horns honking add to the confusion.
‘Elites magnify above’
It is being financed and built by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) – and the Chinese company will operate the highway under a public-private partnership.
This means that the four- and six-lane dual carriageway, with 10 interchanges along the route, will not be free – drivers will have to pay a toll between $ 2 and $ 3.
The goal of improving Nairobi’s roads seems a commendable cause, but some argue that it could actually exacerbate the city’s traffic problems and the huge social and economic divide.
Most residents use matatus – private minibuses with pimp-up – or motorcycle taxis for wedding to and from work.
But doubts remain as to whether these forms of transport will be able to afford toll fees to use the highway.
This could mean that they are left in the jams below the highway while the elite pass them up.
Another point of contention is the environmental impact of the project. The international focus has been on the famous fig tree of Nairobi, saved by the president after a clamor.
However, hundreds of other trees are being felled to make way for the new road, and activists do not believe that any of them will be replanted – and that will also mean the permanent loss of some green areas and the destruction of bird habitats.
Many see this as a destruction of the legacy of Kenya’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, who became famous for facing big government-backed ventures in Nairobi.
This highway project is the latest in China-supported infrastructure fanfare in Kenya in recent years.
In 2019, I took the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Nairobi to the port city of Mombasa – a six-hour journey in comfort, although the ticket price and check-in made it look more like a flight.
The $ 3.2 billion rail project, built and financed by the Chinese, aimed to connect the coast to the city of Naivasha, 76 km northwest of Nairobi, and then to the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
But it has now been suspended because Kenya has been unable to obtain financing from the Chinese to complete the line. For now, the works are suspended until the finances are settled.
Because of SGR, Kenya is now heavily indebted to China, with Chinese loans pledging 21% of its foreign debt.
This left some doubts about the wisdom of the Nairobi expressway.
However, no matter what the cost to the Nairobians, it looks like the project will be completed – in fact, the Chinese company that built it announced that it would open six months ahead of schedule – just in time for the next presidential election in Kenya in 2022.
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