KPA is spending Sh8.3 billion to widen a 1.4km Port Road in Mombasa — about Sh5.96 billion per kilometre. Here's why the cost is raising red flags.
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is under scrutiny after new details emerged showing it is spending Sh8.3 billion to widen a 1.4-kilometre stretch of Port Road inside the Port of Mombasa — a cost that works out to roughly Sh5.96 billion per kilometre, making it one of the most expensive road projects in the country.
What the Project Involves
The contract, for the "widening of Port Road from Gantry Workshop to Gate No. 18/20," was awarded in August 2024 to a joint venture between Stecol Corporation and Miliki Development Company, with works originally scheduled to wrap up this month. According to KPA's 2024/25 annual report, the road is meant to provide an expressway linking the Kilindini side of the port to the Second Container Terminal, easing congestion at the Gate 18 junction and a nearby level crossing.
A Cost That Dwarfs Comparable Projects
The per-kilometre cost of the Port Road project stands out sharply against other recent road works in the region:
- Dongo Kundu Bypass: approximately Sh1.8 billion per kilometre
- Kwa Jomvu–Mariakani Road: about Sh342 million per kilometre
- Rironi–Mau Summit Road: roughly Sh807 million per kilometre
Even against port-specific infrastructure, the numbers are jarring. The six-lane, 1.2km Kipevu Road — itself a major freight corridor serving the port — was reportedly completed at a fraction of the cost of the current project, a gap that has fuelled further questions about value for money.
Where the Money Is Going
Contract documents show that close to Sh1.9 billion, roughly 23 percent of the total budget, has been allocated to preliminary items, contingencies and unspecified "variations" — a broad category that commercial law experts warn can create room for cost inflation. Of this, about Sh968 million is set aside specifically for variations and contingencies, while a separate Sh686.7 million covers preliminary and general items.
The contract's preliminary items reportedly include requirements for the contractor to construct offices for project engineers — complete with air conditioning, round-the-clock electricity and bottled water — as well as separate accommodation or high-end hotel stays for the resident engineer, assistant resident engineer, materials engineer, highway engineer, senior surveyor and support staff during the mobilisation period. Even washroom facilities are reportedly graded according to staff seniority.
Commercial law practitioner Ndong Evance, who reviewed the contract, said the structure of such clauses gives contractors and engineers wide latitude to justify additional costs. He noted that avoiding specific, itemised costing is one of the most common ways public contracts create room for wastage, since general, unspecified budget lines are harder to scrutinise than clearly costed line items.
How Much Should a Road Actually Cost?
One structural engineer, speaking anonymously due to his involvement in government tenders, told the Nation that a kilometre of road construction typically costs between Sh20 million and Sh250 million, depending on site conditions. He acknowledged that Mombasa's soil and terrain often require heavier earthworks and excavation, but maintained that even accounting for this, a normal road project should not exceed Sh250 million per kilometre — a figure that makes KPA's Sh5.96 billion per kilometre difficult to justify on technical grounds alone.
What Happens Next
The scale of the discrepancy between this project and comparable road works has prompted calls for greater transparency and scrutiny from oversight bodies, including the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority. As public attention on the contract grows, pressure is likely to build for a detailed audit of how the budget was structured and whether the variations clauses were applied appropriately.
Don Sami Live will continue following developments on this story as more details emerge.
Editorial note: Figures on preliminary items, contingencies and variations in this piece reflect the contract breakdown reported by the Daily Nation. The Kipevu Road cost comparison could not be independently verified against a primary source at the time of publication and should be treated as a widely cited comparison pending further confirmation.