The government is preparing to take a hard line against contractors sitting on stalled road projects, signalling the end of patience with delays that have dragged on for years.

Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has warned that any contractor who fails to deliver will have their contract terminated and reassigned to competitors who can complete the work. The new approach marks a major shift in how the state handles delayed infrastructure projects.

Speaking on Friday, January 23, 2026, during the Agolomuok–Otati–Kogore road tarmacking project, Chirchir said the government will no longer tolerate excuses.

His remarks come at a time when taxpayers are burdened with more than 500 stalled projects across the country, representing over Ksh2 trillion in sunk costs.

For many Kenyans, these figures are not abstract. They mean muddy, impassable roads, half-built hospitals, and abandoned schools – projects that once raised hope but now stand as symbols of waste and poor planning.

The frustration within government is growing after years of contractors abandoning sites, forcing commuters to navigate potholes and dangerous detours every day.

“We have pending bills spanning 10 to 15 years, where contractors were not being paid, which forced them to put a halt to the job,” Chirchir explained.

He said that excuse no longer holds. According to the CS, the government has resumed payments and brought contractors back to the site, removing any justification for delays.

“As we speak today, we have brought contractors back to work, and there will be no excuse for any contractor not performing because we are paying them,” the CS said.

Pending bills crisis

The scale of the pending bills problem has been enormous. By September 2025, outstanding bills had peaked at Ksh525 billion, with state corporations accounting for Ksh406 billion of that amount. In practical terms, this debt translates to roughly Ksh10,000 per taxpayer, money that could have supported healthcare, education, or social protection programmes.

To address the crisis, the National Treasury allocated Ksh229 billion in the current budget to clear verified pending bills. The road sector has been prioritised, carrying the largest share at Ksh763 billion.

In September 2024, the government received Ksh36 billion to clear stalled roads, and by December 2024, the government had cleared Ksh123 billion in road sector arrears. This intervention helped revive about 875 road projects that had been abandoned across the country.

The stalled projects cut across multiple administrations, from the late former President Mwai Kibaki to the current Ruto government, and include high-profile failures such as the Arror and Kimwarer dams.

In December 2025, President William Ruto confirmed that Ksh123 billion had been paid to settle outstanding road obligations, allowing works to resume nationwide. The Cabinet later confirmed that since April 2025, the payment programme has accelerated progress on 875 road contracts.

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