An article in the Business Daily newspaper titled, “Fresh chance for US firm in Mombasa Expressway deal,” reads, “The American investors behind the Nairobi-Mombasa Expressway have been sent back to the drawing board where they are expected to prepare a fresh Project Development Report (PDR) to demonstrate the bankability of the Ksh 468 billion private public partnership (PPP) project.” Ronald Mwangombe of the Ndara B Community, which is founding the Diaspora University Town (DUT) with Diaspora Kenyans, says this is good news. He adds, “The highway building will enable our community to achieve our social, economic, and children's constitutional rights."
Diaspora University Town (DUT) is an ongoing initiative of making more than 5,000 acres productive by developing a university town, industries, and farms. Ronald says, “Ndara B Community has started planning on the production of building materials and food products. We will use this road to supply the products we produce to diverse areas of Kenya.”
The newspaper article on the Mombasa road further reads, “The PPP report in the latest quarterly update revealed that the construction of the 419 Kilometer toll road had reverted to Project Development/Feasibility study, weeks after the PPP committee rejected the Project’s Development Report (PDR) for failing to meet the criteria.” Ronald and Ndara B Community members who have followed this Nairobi – Mombasa project that will require about 100 acres of Ndara B Community land for the construction of about 5 km that will go through their land feel that the communities along the road, who will benefit and whose constitutional rights will be met by the road construction, should be incorporated in the Project Development Report (PDR).
In 2017, when Bechtel, a U.S. construction company, sent a document that invited suppliers to express interest, Ronald and Ndara B, Community members, were excited about the possibility of supplying the project with natural materials from their land. Ronald was part of a team that developed a construction and building materials plan. Today, the plan is ready to supply road and building construction materials valued at about Ksh 12 billion to the DUT project. Ronald and Ndara B, community members, see an opportunity under the 419 km road plan to supply construction materials valued at about Ksh 20 billion within the Ksh 468 billion budget.
Dan Kamau, the DUT project director, says, “The Diaspora University Town residents and project will benefit from this road. Once the DUT project reaches 20,000 new jobs, 25,000 residents, and the road is completed, the DUT project will be able to contribute to new travellers and toll payments every year.”
Dan has written many articles on the Mombasa –Nairobi–Malaba road construction and its impact on Kenya's GDP growth. He says the road will help grow Kenya's GDP from the current $120 billion to over $1 trillion over the next 25 years. He estimates that the 390 km of road from Konza to Mariakari, with 11 interchanges, could support over 5 million people living along a 10 km road corridor.
