Happy New Year 2026

By: Tex W. for Voices of Change

As we enter 2026, a year already thick with promise, it's tempting to measure progress by what’s being built. In Kenya, the evidence is hard to miss: smooth lanes, gleaming bypasses, ribbon-cuttings for roads and ports meant to bring the future faster. From Nairobi’s Expressway to the LAPSSET corridor connecting Lamu to Ethiopia and South Sudan, infrastructure has become a symbol of arrival, of forward motion, of the kind of country Kenya imagines itself becoming.

But with all that’s unfolding, we find ourselves asking: what does all this really mean?

At first glance, infrastructure suggests opportunity — roads lead to trade, to jobs, to movement. In the last decade, Kenya has invested heavily in transportation, with infrastructure spending reaching over KSh 181 billion in 2023 alone, primarily on roads and bridges.[1] The World Bank highlights that reducing transport and logistics costs could boost Kenya’s competitiveness by as much as 30 percent in key sectors like agriculture and manufacturing.[2]

And yet, for many Kenyans, the experience of mobility remains uneven. Roads are being built, but potholes still swallow the shoulders of rural routes. Traffic snarls in Nairobi can last hours. Mechanical failures and breakdowns happen daily, yet support systems — like standardized roadside assistance or timely emergency response — are largely absent or inconsistent. A vehicle stalling on the side of Thika Road or the Narok–Bomet highway too often leaves people at the mercy of chance, not coordination. It raises the question: can infrastructure truly transform a society if the support structures don’t follow?

What we’re seeing is a tension between pace and preparedness. Between glossy mega-projects and the lived, often gritty, realities of everyday travelers. It’s not just about the roads we’re building — it’s about how people actually experience them. If a young woman riding a boda boda to school can’t get help during a tire blowout on a remote road, or if a matatu driver waits five hours for assistance after a breakdown on a key corridor, then what exactly are we investing in?

These questions are central to how we at Voices of Change are thinking about the year ahead. As a youth-led collective working at the intersections of climate justice, mobility, and civic imagination, we’re excited to announce a new series of publications, research articles, and reflective essays that spotlight not only what’s being built — but what’s being left behind. Through our January–March 2026 editorial arc, we’ll be exploring infrastructure not as a symbol, but as a lived system. Our aim is to challenge the surface narrative with grounded stories, critical questions, and the kind of research that holds up a mirror to both the progress and the gaps.

And we’re not doing this alone. Across counties like Machakos, Kisumu, and Kiambu, young writers and researchers are mapping their own road experiences — how transport intersects with climate vulnerability, access to jobs, or even the cost of food in peri-urban markets. We’re amplifying these stories through our Voices of Change newsletter, field reports, and collaborations with local organizations.

To be clear, this isn’t about pessimism. It’s about clarity. Kenya’s road network has expanded by over 10,000 kilometers in the last decade[3], and projects like the Nairobi Railway City or the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems carry real potential. But numbers alone don’t guarantee equity. Progress requires alignment: between policy and planning, between concrete and care, between what we build and how people live.

This year, let’s not only look at what’s under construction. Let’s ask: who’s being connected, and who’s being left behind? Where do breakdowns happen — not just on the road, but in our systems of response? What would it mean to invest not only in infrastructure, but in infrastructure with integrity — where mobility includes safety, service, and dignity?

2026 offers a chance to reframe what movement means. Not just faster, but fairer. Not just bigger, but better aligned to the everyday lives of those meant to benefit.

From all of us at Voices of Change, we wish you a thoughtful and purposeful New Year. May the roads ahead be built not just in kilometers, but in care.

[1] Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Economic Survey 2024, Nairobi: Government of Kenya, 2024.

[2] World Bank Group, Kenya Economic Update: Planning for Resilient and Inclusive Growth, Washington, D.C., November 2025.

[3] Ministry of Roads and Transport, Transport Infrastructure Report 2025, Nairobi, Kenya: Government Printer.