President William Ruto has said the government has paid nearly Sh250 billion owed to road contractors across the country, paving the way for stalled projects to resume.
Ruto said the unpaid bills had left thousands of kilometres of roads incomplete after contractors stopped work due to delayed payments.
Speaking in Kisumu on Sunday, September 13, the President said the government had now cleared a significant portion of the outstanding debt.
“We had so many kilometres of roads that had stalled. We had a huge debt to pay, and most of our contractors were out of road,” Ruto said.
He said the payments had enabled contractors who had abandoned construction sites to return to work.
According to Ruto, about 6,000 kilometres of road projects are currently ongoing in different parts of the country.
“Today, with confidence again, I can say that all contractors are now back to work,” he said.
The President said the government was now up to date with road construction projects, with several roads expected to be launched in the coming days.
“I will be launching some of these roads in this part of Kenya, in the next 3-4 days here,” he said.
Ruto made the remarks during his four-day development tour of Nyanza, where he is inspecting and launching various government projects.
The President has placed road construction and infrastructure development among the key priorities of his administration, with several stalled projects being revived following payments to contractors.