Residents of Ndia Constituency, Kirinyaga West Sub County, Kirinyaga County, held protests on Saturday over bad roads in the area, specifically specifically the Gacharu-Kiandai-Kianjang'a road.
The protest was as a result of decades of continued neglect of the road which has curtailed the area’s economic and social growth.
Area residents have in the past tirelessly appealed to county and national leaders to prioritise the road’s construction into a permanent motorable road to no avail.
This is inspite of the fact that thousands of residents depend on the road that also connects various important trading centres and learning institutions in the sub-county.
A resident of Ndia Constituency during the protests.
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Speaking during the protest, Gatheru Gakunga, a resident involved in organizing the protests lamented the sorry state of the road.
“The terrible nature of the road continues to have a profoundly negative impact on the quality of life of thousands of affected residents. It is in an appalling condition in sunshine, barely accessible when it drizzles and it's completely shut down by heavy downpour," he said.
"It is for this reason that we decided to come together to air our grievances,” Gakunga added.
Residents of Ndia Constituency, Kirinyaga West Sub County, protest over the poor state of the Gacharu-Kiandai-Kianjang'a road on Satruday.
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Solomon Githendwi, another protester, decried the suffering that residents have had to endure as evidenced by struggling businesses which cannot be accessed by suppliers and sick or injured residents who have to be carried on backs or wheelbarrows and animal carts to access medical attention.
He said the education of school children in the area is also affected by the poor state of the road whenever it rains because their school buses get stuck in mad and leave them stranded.
Githendwi urged local leaders to promptly fix the road to alleviate the residents’ distress.
The residents signed a petition addressed to the Kirinyaga County Governor Wahome Mutahi, Ndia MP Stephen Muriuki and Kirinyaga Regional Manager of the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA).
The petition was also addressed to Mukure and Inoi MCAs, Kirinyaga Senator Charles Kibiru and Kirinyaga Woman Representative Purity Ngirici calling for immediate upgrading of the road to tarmac.