County on the spot over poor roads in Thika

The Kiambu county government is on the spot over the poor state of roads in some parts of Thika constituency.

Residents of Landless estate in Kamenu ward, who met yesterday to discuss the matter, said the situation had taken a toll on them.

Their bone of contention is the pathetic condition of the 6.5km Thika-Garissa-Pakjel-Munyu road.

The residents also raised concerns about the poor state of the Garissa-Jerusalem-Munyu road.

According to Paul Njomo, the two roads are vital as they link the Thika-Garissa highway to the estate and the nearby Munyu and Komo villages.

He said despite the roads being very busy, their pleas to the county government to have them fixed had fallen on deaf ears.

The road leads to quarries located in Munyu and Komo villages and is used by trucks going to collect stones and sand from the quarries.

Mr Njomo said the residents had been suffering especially during the rainy season as the roads became completely impassable.

“Whenever it rains, this place becomes impassable. Residents who own vehicles leave them about a kilometre from their homes. The black cotton soil makes things even worse,” said Njomo.

He added that the poor road network was another big let down for locals during emergencies.

“The county usually collects levies daily from trucks ferrying stones from the quarries. We are therefore wondering why the administration has not fixed this important road,” he said.

Johnstone Waweru, another resident, said the drainage system was also a problem.

“Whenever it rains the area becomes uninhabitable due to flooding as a result of poor drainage,” said Mr Waweru.

He also attributed the rising insecurity in the area to the poor road network and lack of security lights.

“The criminals have been having a field day here. The place is usually very dark at night due to lack of security lights. And due to bad roads, it is normally very hard to chase after the criminals who have been terrorising us,” he said.

The residents gave the county government two weeks to fix all-weather roads, failing which they would stage a protest at the county headquarters.

But Kamenu MCA Raphael Chege called on residents to be patient, saying the county government was well aware of the pathetic state of the roads.

“We have already started rehabilitating the roads and all I’m requesting is patience. It is just a matter of time before they are fully repaired,” said Mr Chege.

Roads Chief Officer Lucas Wahinya acknowledged that many roads in the county were in deplorable condition as a result of the rains.

Mr Wahinya asked residents to be patient because the county government had put in place a roads rehabilitation programme.

“The construction of roads in the entire county requires a big budget,” he said.

“The department will in the coming financial year that is starting next month set aside money to fix some of the roads that are in a very bad state.”