How China shortchanged Kenya on Sh21.5bn road project; Report

Auditor-General report reveals how China shortchanged Kenya on the construction of Sh21.5bn Nairobi Western bypass.

According to the Auditor-General, the Chinese contractor who built the Sh21.5 billion Nairobi Western Bypass left out six interchanges and other crucial infrastructure that had been included in the original road design.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu says the project featured at least six interchanges at significant shopping centers along the highway when the contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), tendered and won the bidding for construction of the project at a total cost of $171 million dollars.

The interchanges were aimed at providing convenience for the large population centres along the road to ease driving and commuting pain.

But in the latest discovery of how contractors and State officials conspire to defraud taxpayers on large projects, the Auditor-General discovered that the interchanges were not existing on the ground as depicted in the project’s authorized plan.

“The information…indicated that there were six interchanges to be implemented at six shopping centres along the road, all of which are evidently not done,” the audit report says in an audit of the project for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2022.

According to the initial plan, the highway, built under the President Uhuru Kenyatta administration, was to connect the Southern Bypass of Nairobi City, interlinked with the Nairobi–Malaba Road with a full cloverleaf interchange at the intersection.

At dirt (Kwa Magu) the contractor was then supposed to build the first diamond interchange, which would allow two directions of traffic to temporarily cross to the left side of the road.

The second diamond interchange was to be built four kilometres from the dirt one at Wangige.

Crossing Kihara-Gacii-Karura Road, some 3.01 kilometres from the second interchange, would be yet another diamond-shaped interchange at Kihara.

Not far from Kihara, and crossing the Limuru Road, CRBC was to build a Cloverleaf interchange at Ndenderu.

The interchange would allow the two highways to cross without the need for any traffic to be stopped by traffic lights.

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In its response, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), the procuring entity, noted that the switch to cheaper modifications was due largely to the high cost of acquiring land for the interchanges.

“Omission of the first interchange was informed by the necessity to contain the cost of the project within the contractual sum, and the savings made would be channeled to cover the cost of an additional 1.384 metres of reinforced earth retaining walls and part of the 725m additional gravity retaining walls along the alignment,” said KeNHA.

The Auditor General was, however not satisfied by KeNHA’s explanation as the agency did not explain the circumstances under which the contracting for the project was done before acquiring and securing the rights of way for the construction.

“Further, no explanation was provided detailing the circumstances under which the specifications of the project were changed with the aim of not exceeding the contract sum, considering that the contractor bid and won the tender for construction of the project at the contract sum of $170,998,693.24 (Sh24.8 billion) which included the cost of all the components which were removed from the scope.”

As a result, the auditor noted that it was not possible to confirm that the full scope of the project was implemented as envisaged in the original design of the project.

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