Frustration in Tharaka Nithi as contractor tarmacs just 6km since 2015
A signboard of a 31-kilometer Chuka-Kareni road in Tharaka Nithi County on February 1, 2021 whose tarmacking started in 2015 but only six kilometers have been done.
On May 10, 2015, Deputy President William Ruto arrived at Kaanwa in Tharaka Nithi County flanked by local politicians.
On his itinerary that day was the launch of the 31km Chuka-Kanwa-Kaare road, which gave locals high hopes.
The road connects the county headquarters in Kathwana to the county’s commercial hub of Chuka.
But seven years later, only six kilometres have been tarmacked and the contractor, Westbuild General Contractors Ltd, left the site three years ago.
Traders and motorists with high hopes of leveraging the road to make profits are now crying foul.
Two years ago, the Tharaka Nithi government completed a modern open-air market in Kaanwa but business is still low due to the deplorable state of the key road leading to the facility.
Vegetable trader Johnson Mutembei said though the market has saved them the agony of being scorched by the sun or rained on, very few buyers access it, especially during the rainy season when the road is too muddy.
“We have a good market here in Kaanwa but accessing it is a big challenge due to the bad state of this key road,” he said.
Juliet Kamene, another trader, said instead of using the Chuka-Kaanwa-Kaare road, people travelling from Chuka to the county headquarters use the Kawanjara road through Embu County, which is about 100km longer.
She said travellers also spend more money transporting goods to the market because of the state of the road.
She also noted that even county government drivers prefer using the Embu route.
“A sack of cabbages that should to be transported for about Sh50, now costs Sh150 from Chuka to the Kaanwa market because the road is very bad,” she lamented.
Wear out
Samuel Kimathi, a boda boda operator at the Kaanwa market, said motorbikes wear out quickly because of the bad road.
Several leaders, including DP Ruto, have been promising that the road would be completed but the work has not resumed.
In October last year, Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho led a team of PSs and other senior government officers in inspecting progress on various projects in the county and promised that work would resume on the Kaanwa-Kaare road within a few days.
Months later, nothing is happening.
Motorists on Wednesday appealed to National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi to intervene and ensure the key road is completed.
Speaking in Chuka yesterday, motorists said leaders had failed to fast-track work on the road.
They expressed confidence that Mr Muturi, who was recently made the Mt Kenya region spokesperson, can successfully petition President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene.
