The government has finally tarmacked the road leading to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s rural home in Ichaweri village, Gatundu South, Kiambu County.
The Nairobian highlighted the deplorable state of the 21-kilometre stretch of road which made residents wonder how despite being home to uthamaki (leadership), the one-lane road off the Thika Superhighway was full of potholes and without working streetlights.
This is the same road Uhuru, as president-elect, used on his way to Bomas of Kenya to be announced winner of the annulled August 8 elections in 2017.
It is also the road that his mother, former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta, uses whenever she retires to Ichaweri from the family’s Muthaiga home.
Despite the presence of traffic police checks along Kenyatta Road, several bus and matatu carjacking and people being dumped along the road had been reported.
This again happened despite the influx of real estate developers who have thronged the area owing to its proximity to Nairobi, favourable terrain and climatic conditions, besides the founding family coming from ‘within.’
Now residents of Ichaweri can celebrate that at least they can easily access markets and travel along a smooth road, which will spur economic growth and create job opportunities.
They also believe that President Uhuru will have to use the road often when he finally retires from elective politics when his two terms end in 2022.
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The potholes that were usually flooded with water when it rained making navigation difficult have been levelled, besides expansion of the meandering narrow stretch towards the haphazardly designed one-street Gatundu town.
Macharia Mwai, a villager, told The Nairobian that, “We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. It was a disgrace that our village was ostracised yet we are the people who have given Kenya two presidents.
This place is supposed to be like a paradise. It had reached a time when we felt that President Uhuru had abandoned us because we were the laughing stock”, said Mwai, adding that, “We are now ready to receive president Uhuru with open arms because he listened to us.
He has now paid the debt. This road has a lot of history and it’s the backbone of our economic activities because most of us are farmers. Our goods can now get to the market on time”.
William Munyi, 25, another resident, told The Nairobian that, “I am excited because I will be able to ferry my produce using my bike to the market without worrying about the rains.
Before, the state of the road and was deplorable and got worse during heavy rains leading to a transport crisis.”