The Bungoma-Malaba highway will be expanded to ease traffic congestion.
The expansion will ensure smooth flow of long-distance trucks to Uganda, Transport and Infrastructure Chief Administrative Secretary Chris Obure said on Tuesday.
Obure spoke in Malaba town where a snarl-up of cargo trucks stretches 30 kilometres from the Malaba One-Stop Border post.
"There is only one lane coming to the border. We want to do another lane to facilitate the movement of trucks. By the end of June, design works will be complete. We want to solve the problem of long queues at the border,” he said.
The CAS did not disclose the cost of the road expansion. The dual carriageway will be a relief to truck drivers hauling cargo to landlocked East African Community countries.
Obure was accompanied by his Interior and Coordination of National Government counterpart Hussein Dadho and Health Ministry's Rashid Aman.
Malaba handles about 1,000 long-distance trucks ferrying cargo across the border every day. Uganda is Kenya’s best trading partner.
There has been a long queue of long-distance trucks on the Bungoma-Malaba highway since Kenya and Uganda closed their common border at Malaba, Busia and Lwakhakha on March 23 and March 22 respectively.
The closure was meant to control human movement as the two countries fight the spread of Covid-19. Only long-distance truck drivers and their crews are allowed access.
The state officers toured Malaba five months after a Senate Committee demanded the completion of road expansion to ease movement of goods to and from Uganda.
Members of the Roads and Transport committee had witnessed a long queue of trucks waiting to cross into Uganda.
Their chairman, Kimani Wamatangi (Kiambu), said Malaba’s pathetic road portrayed a negative image of Kenya. He said it was unfair for traders to move all the way from Mombasa only to get stuck at the border.
“Around 200 metres of the road has a challenge and should be fixed. It was not fair for a contractor to be given a contract worth Sh600 million and be dismissed after being paid Sh550 million,” the senator said last November.
Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang'ula asked the national government to promptly address traffic congestion at the border. He said traffic delays were eating into government revenues and posed risks to traders.
“This is because some trucks carry fuel which is flammable,” Wetang'ula said.
The Bungoma-Malaba highway plays a critical role in facilitating cross-border trade between Kenya and landlocked Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. The road connects the countries with Mombasa, Nairobi and Eldoret.
Obure said the construction of trailer parks in Malaba and Busia town is captured in the government’s development plan for Busia county.
Dadho said his ministry will handle “at an appropriate level” a case in which Kenyans are being held in Uganda as the landlocked nation tightens its fight against Covid-19.
Aman appealed to Kenyans to follow the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry to contain the spread of the virus.