The President made the announcement on Sunday, September 13, while addressing a grassroots meeting in the Lake Region in Kisumu.
According to Ruto, the government has already set aside KSh60 billion for the first phase of the 612-kilometre project, which is expected to connect five counties around the Lake Victoria basin.
Ruto said the government has allocated KSh92 billion for road development and that KSh60 billion from the allocation will go towards the first phase of the long-awaited Lake Victoria Ring Road.
“Besides KSh92 billion we have for roads, in November we are coming here to break ground for the longest road, the Lake Victoria Ring Road, of which phase one will cost us KSh60 billion,” Ruto stated.
The proposed road will start in Busia before passing through Siaya and Kisumu, continuing to Homa Bay and eventually connecting to Migori.
Once completed, the road is expected to create an important transport corridor around the Lake Victoria region while improving connectivity between the five counties.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi had earlier indicated that the government had already received funding from the World Bank for the project and that construction would commence soon.
The announcement comes several months after President Ruto promised that funds would be included in the 2026/27 financial year budget to facilitate construction of the highway.
Ruto noted that the project had been discussed for more than 15 years and had remained a long-standing infrastructure priority for the region.
“We have a road that we have been discussing for 15 years. This road is called the Lake Victoria Ring Road and it starts at Busia, passes through Siaya and Kisumu, comes to Homa Bay, and then continues to connect all the way to Migori,” Ruto said in March 2026.
The project was initially proposed for World Bank funding in 2016, with an estimated cost of approximately KSh41.6 billion.
However, the projected cost later increased to about KSh70 billion following changes in the design, modern highway standards and an expanded scope, according to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA).
The planned road will feature a seven-metre-wide carriageway and two-metre shoulders on both sides. The shoulders are also expected to accommodate non-motorised road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.
The project will additionally involve the installation of fibre-optic cables along the road corridor, forming part of the wider infrastructure development planned around Lake Victoria.
With the first phase now scheduled to begin in November, attention will shift to the implementation of what is expected to become one of the region’s major road infrastructure projects.
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