Government Issues Fresh Land Notice for 300KM SGR Extension Between Nairobi and Kisumu

Construction machinery is already at work along sections of the new Standard Gauge Railway corridor stretching westward from Nairobi, and the government moved this week to formalise land acquisition for the remaining stretches of the ambitious 300-kilometre extension that will ultimately connect the capital to Kisumu on Lake Victoria's shore.

The notice, gazetted on Friday and spotted by Infinity254 Media, covers parcels in Nakuru, Kericho and Kisumu counties — the heart of Kenya's tea and sugarcane belt. Landowners along the corridor have been given 30 days to lodge objections with the National Land Commission.

Officials from the Kenya Railways Corporation confirmed that physical construction has been underway since July 2026, with Chinese contractor CRBC mobilised on multiple fronts. The expected completion date is July 2027, which would allow commissioning before Kenya hosts the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

The extension, which will cost an estimated Sh350 billion, is seen as the centrepiece of Ruto's infrastructure legacy — and the source of some of his most pointed criticism. Opposition leaders have questioned the financing model, noting Kenya's national debt has now crossed the Sh13 trillion mark. "We are borrowing to build trains that serve Chinese export interests, not Kenyan farmers," former Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria told a Nairobi business forum last week.

Ruto has pushed back hard. In Kericho, he argued the railway would cut transportation costs for tea exporters, reduce truck congestion on the Nakuru highway and open up western Kenya's economic hinterland in ways that road infrastructure alone cannot achieve. "Ask any farmer in Kericho how much of their revenue goes to lorry transport. This railway changes that arithmetic," he said.

For residents along the corridor, the announcement is a mixed blessing — some have waited years for compensation on land already cleared during earlier survey phases. Community leaders in Kericho say they will cooperate but expect fair market value and swift payment, lessons drawn from the contentious land dealings that accompanied the original Nairobi-Mombasa SGR.