Uhuru Kenyatta's road projects best thing for Kenya since sliced bread

A view of a section of the newly opened JKIA-Westlands Expressway. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

With a few months remaining in the life of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, the jury is divided on the economic impact of the highway projects that have been the hallmark of his government. On the one hand, are those who consider the infrastructure projects a godsend that has changed their lives while on the other are naysayers who claim they cannot eat the new roads. As one of those who have been eating highways with a big spoon and loving it, allow me to explain why the road projects have been the best thing to happen since sliced bread.

To make my case, I wish to look at two corridors that have been the centre of unprecedented investments in road projects. The first is the Nairobi-Naivasha road corridor from Uthiru to Kikuyu which has become an island within a beltway comprising Eastern, Northern and Southern bypasses. With completion of the Western bypass, my fellow villagers will soon graduate to the unique and prestigious league of citizens with an address within a beltway like residents of Washington DC. As icing on the cake, completion of the Nairobi expressway and ongoing expansion of the Waiyaki Way from James Gichuru junction is expected to improve traffic flow between the city centre and the Nairobi-Naivasha road corridor.