President William Ruto has announced that his government is planning to construct a new Expressway from Thika to Nairobi. Ruto announced the plans for the Thika Expressway during his address on Jamhuri Day.
The president, in his address, claimed that the Thika-Nairobi Expressway will be built along the Superhighway corridor, starting from Thika and terminating at Museum Hill to end traffic congestion.
“I know that many Kenyans reside in Thika and that Thika Road has become congested and crowded with constant traffic snarl-ups. I take this opportunity to announce that next year, just as we have the Expressway from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, we will also construct an Expressway from Thika to Museum Hill,” said Ruto.
Although he did not mention how the Expressway will be funded, his claim that the road will mirror the current Nairobi Expressway has been widely interpreted as meaning that the new Expressway will also be built through public-private-partnership (PPP) and will be subjected to tolls.
At the same time, the president did not specify when construction would begin, and, or what types of agreements the government has entered into regarding the project.
The president made this announcement a day after it emerged that if Kenya cancelled the ongoing Nairobi Expressway contract prematurely, taxpayers would be forced to pay Chinese contractors Sh103 billion in compensation.
The termination charge that would be slapped on Nairobi Expressway accounts for more than half of the estimated Sh203 billion that is quoted by the National Treasury as the PPP cancellation fee for eleven infrastructure projects.
“As of the end of June 2025… total estimated exposure related to termination sum payments amounts to Sh203 billion. Assuming 5.0 percent probability of termination by the contracting authorities, contingent liability associated with PPP projects arising from project termination payments is Sh10.19 billion as of end of June 2025,” the National Treasury said in its Annual Public Debt Report for the financial year 2024/25.
The Nairobi Expressway is made up of around 27.1 kilometres covering the distance from Westlands in Nairobi to Mlolongo. It was constructed at a fee of around Sh70.78 billion. Initially, the road was estimated to cost some Sh65.2 billion. The least amount paid to use the road if Sh170 while the highest amount is Sh500.
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