The government boosted the budget allotted for road building in the 2018 fiscal year to Sh239.5 billion, giving contractors the hope that their unpaid invoices worth billions of dollars will be reimbursed.

Kenya Kwanza’s administration reduced the road budget by Sh47.29 billion to Sh77.94 billion in a mini-budget for the current fiscal year, which ends in June, as part of austerity measures aimed at reducing the nation’s budget deficit.

Furthermore, the government owes road contractors more than Sh140 billion in unpaid expenses, thus some of the funds could be used to pay these vendors.

The remaining Sh80.7 billion would be used to support road maintenance. Under Dr. Ruto’s first budget, the remaining Sh50 billion will go toward rehabilitation.

Due to the government’s unpaid payments for sanctioned works, road contractors and landowners in the country are owed Sh145 billion.

This situation makes it more difficult for enterprises to manage their working capital and delays the completion of ongoing projects nationwide.

The Cabinet Secretary claims that local contractors are owed Sh50 billion, while foreign companies are owed Sh60 billion. The remaining Sh35 billion is owed to landowners whose lands were taken in order to build roads.

The nation’s transportation of people and goods was facilitated by President Kenyatta’s construction of new roadways, but the taxpayers were saddled with enormous debts in the process.