KURA defends contractor, says car wash business to blame for damage of section

Residents commuting from Mwiki to the city centre were yesterday stranded.

The poor state of a five-kilometre city road has yet again led to public protests barely a year after Sh500 million was spent to tarmac it.

The money spent on the Kasarani-Mwiki road raised questions after experts yesterday said the Sh500 million is enough to make a good quality road of up to 10km.

Residents commuting from Mwiki to the city centre were yesterday stranded for the better part of the morning after matatu operators went on strike protesting the pathetic state of the road.

They claimed the contractors undertaking the repair of the road had taken too long to complete a 100-metre stretch.

Heavy rains had also turned sections of the road into ‘swimming pools’.

The operators blocked the access way by parking buses on the road and blocking exits from the estate. Consequently, motorists could not access Thika or Kangundo roads and the many stones placed on the road did little to ease the situation.

“The contractor has been here for a month but no progress has been made. The rains made the road worse, making vehicles susceptible to breakdowns,” said Victor Kaminju, a user of the road.

Kirangu Waithaka, a commuter, said: "Fares have been hiked to as much as Sh150 from the usual Sh50; this is outrageous."

Fredrick Karanja, the county transport, public works and infrastructure chief officer, distanced City Hall from the blame, saying the road project was under the supervision of the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA).

"The position as of now is that the road is under KURA and they have on the ground their contractor, who is supposed to be undertaking the repairs," stated the chief officer.

KURA Communications Director John Cheboi, however, defended the contractor, saying the section of the road in question had been damaged as a results of activities at a car wash business on the roadside. Mr Cheboi said water flowing from the car wash destroyed the foundation of the road.

“Notwithstanding the current rains, we hope he will finish the filling and start the hand packing by the end of the week. We are hopeful next week motorists will see a road,” said Cheboi.

The same contractor- Emishoyi East Africa Ltd- is also repairing Baba Dogo and Kamiti roads at a cost of Sh40 million.

Independent investigations by The Standard revealed that in 2015, Governor Evans Kidero commissioned the road at a cost of Sh500 million.