The lobbying was made easier because the Roads CS is from Murang’a.
SATURDAY, APRIL 16 2016
The good people of Nyeri, Embu, Meru, Kirinyaga and Murang’a will soon be using dual carriage highways.
Like many development projects, they will be the first area in Kenya completely served with such highways, once the existing dual carriageway is extended from Kenol Township, with one arm passing through Murang’a Town and the other to Embu and Meru.
The decision to build two arms of the highway came after the original plan to extend the existing highway was amended so that it would go through Murang’a instead of Kirinyaga.
The change of the plan was precipitated by intense lobbying by Murang’a leaders, who wanted the dual highway to pass through their county and help open up the region.
Reportedly, the lobbying was made easier because the Cabinet Secretary in charge of roads is from Murang’a.
Aghast and un-amused, Kirinyaga leaders took to the airwaves, publicly threatening to disassociate themselves from the ruling Jubilee coalition if their original plan was changed.
Their threats worked in a matter of weeks, and rather than shift the dual highway, two roads will now be built instead!
How lucky they are that in a time when funds are scarce, partly from being “eaten” in thieving scandals, they benefit so easily, while others literally watch by the roadside!
WORK HAS ALREADY STARTED
Already the work to extend the dual highway that ends at Kenol Township has begun with clearing of the grounds.
There is no doubt that having good roads opens up areas, making transport of people and goods much faster, and also increasing the value of property near the highway.
Just ask the residents around the Thika Superhighway. Once sleepy towns and urban centres have been transformed by this 12-lane superhighway, complete with its “barabara za gorofa”.
So much so, that massive malls have been constructed along the highway, and apartment buildings have come up to cope with the increasing demand for housing for people working in Nairobi for whom the trip into the city is now much faster than for many parts of Nairobi that are much closer in.
By extending the dual carriageway up to Nyeri, Murang’a and Meru - via Kirinyaga and Embu - these areas will be similarly transformed, increasing development and incomes for the residents along the way.
Now, remember that there is no place in Kenya better served with tarmac roads than Othaya, where small feeder roads are all tarmac, with only the driveways into homes and farms left without tarmac.
Even Nairobi residents would be envious!
Don’t get me wrong: The people in this Mt Kenya region deserve good roads. But then, so do the people living in Kisumu, Kericho, Busia, Eldoret and Kisii.
And so do the people in Wajir, Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Trans Mara, Isiolo and Turkana.
In fact, why is there no 12-lane highway serving the busy and crucial Mombasa to Kisumu to Busia and Bungoma stretch?
I bet that no amount of threats, lobbying, or public pressure from their local leaders will bring dual carriageways any time soon!
TRIBALISM
And therein lies the crux of the problem of this regime: By consistently favouring the Mt Kenya region, their rhetoric of “one nation” without tribalism is hollow.
This creates resentment among other Kenyans, and inevitably means that tribalism is injected into election campaigns. Clearly there are benefits when the presidency is held by a homeboy!
Let it not be said that it is the “others” injecting tribalism into elections, development or governance. No, that has been and is being done by this regime itself, and quite openly, too. It is the infamous “mta do?” attitude.
No amount of words castigating tribalism, re-iterating that we are one nation or claims of a meritocracy can change the substance of their actions.
And this is not just about roads, it is also about appointments to public office where it seems that the only people with merit come from two communities with one way more favoured than the other between the two who are “eating.”
So if the next elections turn on claims of tribalism, let it be clear that it is this regime that has accelerated and intensified tribalism, making the “bad marriage” that is Kenya into an abusive one.
mkiai2000@yahoo.com
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