President William Ruto has announced plans to construct a dual carriage road to ease congestion at the Kenya-Uganda Border crossing in Malaba.
Speaking during the launch of Bungoma County aggregation and industrial park in Kanduyi, Bungoma County, President Ruto said the expansion will go a long way in eradicating traffic jams at the busy border crossing.
“We have deployed systems and are waiting for experts to finalize plans for the expansion. This will go up to 20 kilometres from the border.” Ruto added.
Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) will oversee the expansion.
Truck pile-ups have been observed along the Eldoret-Malaba highway, causing heavy traffic from the Kimaiti junction to the Malaba One Stop Border Post (OSBP).
The greatest traffic bottleneck, which lasted several weeks, occurred in January 2022, when Kenyan truck drivers protested Uganda’s decision to adopt mandatory COVID-19 testing at its border and impose a $30 fee for the test.
Kenya and Uganda have also announced plans to install more scanners in Malaba as the two countries move to decongest the border.
Roads and Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen said this will be a temporary measure the two neighbours will be undertaking in their move to de-congest Malaba ahead of the SGR extension to the border.
Murkomen stated that discussions between Kenya, Uganda, and other EAC member nations are well underway to extend the SGR from Naivasha to Malaba, and ultimately to Kampala and beyond.
Malaba is a critical border crossing site, and infrastructure improvements will benefit the entire EAC region.
