- Already, several vehicles and motorbikes have been damaged while plying through the stretch.
- Most affected are bodaboda and other public service vehicle operators who decried that due to the run-down state of the road.
Image: JOHN KAMAU
Residents of Kandakomu, Marigi, Gatei, Watathi and Gathaiti villages in Gatundu North have raised Sh180,000 to facilitate the rehabilitation of the Kandakomu-Marigi road.
In a fundraiser event that saw residents contribute from as low as Sh50, users of the road said the money would be utilised to fill potholes along the busy stretch that they use to transport their farm produce.
The villagers are hardworking pineapple, passion fruits, tea, coffee and avocado farmers.
They sell their produce to the neighbouring Kamwangi, Gatukuyu and Thika markets enabling them to make a living.
But their produce has been rotting in the farms following the inaccessibility of the villages by buyers who have raised alarm over the poor state of the road in the area.
Already, several vehicles and motorbikes have been damaged while plying through the stretch.
Due to the derelict state of the road, school buses, lorries and personal vehicles have been getting stuck along the muddy stretch, a situation that has increased accidents as the drivers try to swerve to safety.
Besides being muddy, the busy road has developed huge potholes and trenches disabling the movement of goods and services, a situation residents feel will impoverish them.
Led by David Ng’ang’a, the residents gathered at Gathaiti village for the fundraiser that saw men, women and youth give the little they had to salvage their road situation.
Most affected are bodaboda and other public service vehicle operators who decried that due to the run-down state of the road, their vehicles have developed mechanical damages making them incur losses as they spend most of their time in garages.
Already, most PSVs have stopped using the route with operators saying the impenetrable stretch will edge them out of business.
“We are here to contribute the little we have to help rehabilitate the road we have been using but one that is no longer penetrable due to its poor state," Kagotho Mwangi said.
"We have given out from as little as Sh50 and all of us together have managed to raise Sh180,000. The money will fill the potholes that are there and murram some sections to give us temporary relief."
The residents took issue with their local leaders for doing less to lobby for the tarmacking of the road.
“We got into a trap. We elected an MP who has been postponing the dates of constructing this road. He started by saying it would be done in March this year but he now insists it will be constructed in August,” decried David Ng’ang’a, a resident.
Residents who have been planting bananas to protest its pathetic state claim that nothing has been done and urged the relevant government agencies to intervene.
The section was part of the spur roads in the constituency under the 540 kilometres Mau Mau Road project, which was to cover four Mt Kenya counties at a cost of Sh 30 billion.
The development that was launched in 2020 has, however, remained a pipe dream for locals who are now immobilised.
While the project hoped to enhance economic activities in the area that boasts a rich plantation of pineapples, avocados, tea and coffee for export, and dairy farming among other crops, farm produce is now rotting in the farms due to a derelict road network.