Despite thousands of lives lost on roads, Macharia retains position

Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia addressing participants at KICC in Nairobi on March 17, 2016 . PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The CS is also credited for negotiating for the funds for Phase 2A of the project from Nairobi to Naivasha at a cost of Sh150 billion.

  • The CS has also overseen an ambitious expansion of road networks in the country including construction of more than 3,200 kilometres of tarmacked roads.

  • He has been blamed for allegedly not doing enough to curb the wave of road accidents that have claimed hundreds of lives.

  • The SGR was Jubilee’s flagship project in its first term and the 480-kilometre line between Mombasa and Nairobi was delivered in a record four years.

President Uhuru Kenyatta could have considered other factors beyond the recent wave of road crashes in retaining Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia.

Mr Macharia is perhaps the most surprising inclusion of the six Cabinet secretaries who were retained by President Kenyatta on Friday. He has been roundly blamed for allegedly not doing enough to curb the wave of road accidents that have claimed hundreds of lives, primarily over the past two months.

Because of this, many people believed that Mr Macharia had slim chances of retaining his seat. However, the President could have considered the fact that Mr Macharia has played a central in the delivery of the standard gauge railway on time and on budget.

FOUR YEARS

The SGR was Jubilee’s flagship project in its first term and the 480-kilometre line between Mombasa and Nairobi was delivered in a record four years. The project is being undertaken by China Road and Bridge Corporation at a cost of Sh327 billion.

The CS is also credited for negotiating for the funds for Phase 2A of the project from Nairobi to Naivasha at a cost of Sh150 billion. Work on the 120-kilometre line which is being funded by Exim Bank of China is already underway.

The CS has also overseen an ambitious expansion of road networks in the country including construction of more than 3,200 kilometres of tarmacked roads, according to data from the 2017 Economic Survey report.

Other CSs who were retained are Henry Rotich (Finance), Fred Matiang’i (Internal Security and acting Education), Joe Mucheru (IT), Charles Keter (Energy) and Najib Balala (Tourism).

Mr Macharia took over the Transport ministry in 2015 following the sacking of Michael Kamau after he was accused of abuse of office. The High Court quashed his prosecution last July.