The Public Private Partnerships Directorate has addressed claims that the recent traffic congestion on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway was staged to justify Public Private Partnership (PPP) concessions.
In a statement on Monday, September 1, Public Private Partnerships Directorate Director General Kefa Seda dismissed the allegations, noting that PPP projects follow strict legal and regulatory standards designed to safeguard the public interest.
"The PPP Directorate has taken note of public statements in regard to the traffic congestion recently experienced on the Nairobi–Nakuru highway during the National Youth Service Passing Out Day on 28th August 2025," the statement read.
Seda clarified that insinuations linking congestion to PPP concessions were unfounded, explaining that PPPs follow rigorous technical, financial, legal, social, and environmental assessment.
"However, the suggestion that traffic congestion is manipulated to justify PPP concessions is inaccurate and misleading. PPPs in Kenya are anchored in a robust legal framework that demands rigorous technical, financial, legal, social, and environmental assessment. They are procured through competitive, transparent processes; regulated by government policy; and designed to ensure value for money.
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"Where user charges are introduced, they are not arbitrary but carefully evaluated, government-regulated, and benchmarked against affordability. At every stage, the overriding principle is to safeguard public interest," the statement continued.
Seda also faulted what he termed as misleading narratives about PPPs being exploitative, emphasizing that PPPs operate on values meant to benefit citizens.
"The inaccurate reporting that PPPs are instruments of exploitation or coercion is a misrepresentation of both the spirit and the practice of PPPs. The Nairobi–Nakuru–Mau Summit Highway Project is a national priority precisely because of the frustrations motorists face daily along the Northern Corridor, from severe congestion, high accident rates, and mounting economic losses. Routine repairs cannot address these challenges sustainably. The project provides a durable solution through a modern dual carriageway, bypasses, service lanes, and enhanced safety measures that will ease traffic from Rironi all the way to Malaba while securing safer and faster journeys for goods and passengers.
"Equally, the values underpinning PPPs deserve to be reiterated. All PPP frameworks are built on transparency, accountability, value-for-money, risk sharing, and long-term sustainability. These values have been consistently upheld to ensure that PPPs do not burden citizens but instead deliver infrastructure at the scale and speed required to support national development," the statement added.
Seda went ahead to point out that the frustrations of motorists are evidence of the urgent need for long-term solutions.
"While the concerns of motorists about traffic congestion are legitimate, they also highlight the very reason why structured, long-term interventions such as the Nairobi–Nakuru–Mau Summit Highway have been prioritised. Such projects and others the PPP Directorate is considering at various stages are a direct response to the lived reality of Kenyans and the demands of a modern, growing economy," the statement further read.
On Thursday, August 28, motorists plying the Nakuru–Nairobi Highway were caught in a massive traffic snarl-up stretching between Naivasha and Kikopey along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway.
In a statement on Friday, August 29, the Kenya National Highways Authority(KeNHA) said the congestion began at around 8:30 PM.
The authority attributed the snarl-up to the large number of motorists who had travelled to Gilgil for the National Youth Service (NYS) pass-out parade.
KeNHA also noted that the traffic snarl-up was worsened by lane indiscipline, with some motorists overlapping and blocking free movement.
"The Authority regrets to bring to the attention of the public that from around 2030 hrs yesterday, congestion developed along the Nakuru - Nairobi Highway. This was worsened by lane indiscipline, which resulted in a traffic gridlock that is currently being experienced between Naivasha and Kikopey.
"The increase in traffic could also be attributed to a high number of motorists who travelled to attend yesterday’s NYS pass-out parade in Gilgil,” read part of the statement.
