An ongoing road upgrading by Kenya Rural Roads Authority(KERRA) Photo; Kerra (website)
Residents of Nyatike and motorists raised concerns over stalled Migori-Sori road
Residents of Nyatike sub-county and motorists have raised concerns over stalled Migori-Sori road which they say hinders their business and movement.
Motorists, in particular, express deep-seated grievances regarding the stagnant progress of the road project pointing to the fact that construction commenced over a decade ago, yet a significant portion of the road, stretching from Nyakweri to Lwanda Konyango, remains unfinished.
Motorists have encountered losses saying they take their vehicles for repair every time they use the road.
David Ojala, a motorist who has used the road for ten years said the road which is in a very bad state has made him lose his truck’s springs often.
Motorists said it took them a longer time to travel through the over 30-kilometer road.
They claimed that it takes them almost two hours to travel from Lwanda to Nyakweri, a distance that should be taking less than 20 minutes.
John Mobiswa who has been transporting sand to Kisii for three years says even though they pay taxes, the road is bad and they get losses every day.
Mobiswa pointed out that he has on different occasions lost his truck’s tires and had springs break due to the bad state of the road.
For the local residents of Lwanda to Nyakweri, it has been a cumbersome task to take their sick relatives to hospital using the road.
Steve Biko, a resident of Modi area where the road passes said that despite it being a busy road, nothing has been done on the road which has huge holes.
The situation is made worse for the motorists and residents during the rainy seasons which leave the road completely impassable and cuts off access to markets.
Nyatike MP Tom Odege highlighted that they have witnessed very serious discrimination from the national government when it came to completing roads in Nyatike.
He said the constituency is completely cut off and there is no road.
According to Mr. Odege, the contractor who was working on the road stopped working for not being paid the money he demanded from the national government.
He called on the national government to stop discriminating against the Nyatike people and have the roads completed, saying that the tussle between the contractor and the government was making his people suffer.
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