Gachagua: Railway Financing Halted Over Sh50bn Kickback Demand

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua claimed that Chinese financiers refused to fund the proposed Narok-Kisumu-Malaba railway, according to a report by AllAfrica: Kenya published on 2 November 2026. Gachagua alleged that the Ruto administration demanded a Sh50 billion commission to enable the project.

Gachagua said the proposed railway, which is expected to connect Narok to Kisumu and eventually Malaba, "has no valid contract because Chinese funders refused to finance it." He further claimed that Chinese government officials called the project "a risky political project ahead of next year's elections," and that ministers falsely blamed the stoppage on the Iran-US conflict. The report contains no statement from Chinese financiers or officials, and no documentation of the alleged commission demand.

Gachagua also questioned the rise in the projected cost of the Rironi-Mau Summit highway from Sh150 billion to Sh200 billion. He alleged the project was originally planned under President Uhuru Kenyatta for KES 150 billion with an unnamed French company, and that President Ruto negotiated a KES 7 billion payout to that company without any work being done, split KES 3.5 billion for himself and KES 3.5 billion for the French company.

He further alleged that the project was handed to Chinese contractors, including China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and Shandong, at an inflated cost, and that KES 30 billion of NSSF pension funds was illegally diverted to the highway project. Gachagua said he was "putting CRBC, Shandong, and NSSF trustees on notice that they will face the law" if he returned to government. None of these claims are corroborated in the report by official cost records, NSSF statements, or independent audits.

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir attributed construction setbacks on the Rironi-Mau Summit highway to disruptions in the supply of bitumen, citing geopolitical tensions and challenges in international supply chains. Chirchir said bitumen prices rose from about Sh90 per kilogramme to between Sh200 and Sh220, and that contractors had deployed more than 1,000 pieces of heavy machinery, with works reaching the first layer of Dense Bituminous Macadam at Lari.

AllAfrica: Kenya reported that the Rironi-Mau Summit highway is being undertaken through a public-private partnership involving CRBC and NSSF on the Rironi-Gilgil and Rironi-Mai Mahiu-Naivasha sections, while Shandong is responsible for the Gilgil-Nakuru-Mau Summit stretch. The government initially targeted October 30 to open the Rironi-Naivasha section but pushed the deadline to December 2026; the year of the original October 30 target is not stated in the article. Construction continues to face delays.