How Ruto’s France Trip Killed Uhuru-Era Rironi-Mau Summit Highway Plan

Jukwaa

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Speaking during a media engagement at the Kisumu State Lodge on Monday, September 14, Ruto said the prolonged negotiations eventually forced his administration to disengage from the French firms.

Ruto said he personally travelled to France to raise the matter with French President Emmanuel Macron, telling him that Kenya could no longer continue with the negotiations.

“You know very well that the East African road from Nairobi all the way to Kampala was very much constrained between Nairobi and Nakuru, and there was a discussion for almost 9 years with some French companies,” Ruto said.

📌 What You Need to Know

“I told those people that it would not be business as usual because they were reluctant, and they gave us many conditions, and it became a very long discussion. I had to travel to France, and I told Macron that we cannot continue like this,” he added.

In April 2025, the Kenyan government formally cancelled a Ksh190 billion (€1.3 billion) deal with a French company contracted to construct the Nairobi-Nakuru dual carriageway.

Ruto’s administration ditched the multi-billion-shilling highway construction deal and opted to pursue the project under a different arrangement involving a Chinese contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the agreement for the construction of the 175-kilometre Rironi-Mau Summit road in 2020 during his visit to Paris, France.

Ruto said the government developed a new model within a year of walking away from the negotiations, paving the way for the expansion of the road network from Nairobi towards western Kenya.

According to Ruto, the new project is already underway and involves the construction of a 233-kilometre road from Rironi to Mau Summit, with the government also pursuing an extension towards Malaba.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke

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