When Murang'a county didn'tt fix a dilapidated feeder road, residents of Mangoto village in Maragua subcounty decided to do it themselves.
They upgraded seven kilometres of the cratered Kihiu Mwiri Mangoto road.
It was impassable. A few children drowned in deep potholes, a couple of women gave birth on the roadside on their way to health facilities.
Produce rotted in fields because farmers could not transport it to market.
The situation would have gotten worse, but large-scale farmers bought land in the area and soon realised that they couldn't use the road to take produce to market.
They mobilised small-scale farmers and residents and got approval from the national government to do t themselves.
The road will serve Kangangu primary and secondary schools and improve village income.
“We are glad our new neighbours were sympathetic. This road has now opened up the village and our produce will not be going bad in our farms,” Geoffrey Karanja said.
With a good road, they will now be able to practice commercial farming, he said.
Priscilla Wangechi said many women have delivered by the roadside on their way to health facilities.
“Just recently, a woman gave birth in a ditch and afterwards, we had to carry her for a very long distance to a health centre,” she said.
The road also had deep ditches and sometimes children drowned during the rainy seasons.
We are asking the national and county governments to come in and help complete this road, sink boreholes, instal power and see how this area will be transformed
Henry Njuguna and a few friends moved to the village from Nairobi recently after they decided to buy farmland.
They planted avocados and bananas but soon realised the village faced serious problems of roads, power and water supply.
The group approached Nyumba Kumi elders and residents to brainstorm on how to improve the village before talking to the deputy county commissioner about upgrading the road.
"We then donated toward the project because we could not continue to watch helplessly as our farm produces went to waste,” Njuguna said.
One man volunteered his four graders while six trucks carried murram.
The seven kilometres is only a fraction of the 20km to the village.
Njuguna asked Governor Mwangi wa Iria to consider waiving the Sh1,500 charged per lorry of murram, as they are doing a public project.
“We buy murram at Sh3,500 and then we are charged the levy yet it is not a private project we are doing,” he said.
“We are asking the national and county governments to come in and help complete this road, sink boreholes, instal power and see how this area will be transformed,” he said.
(Edited by V. Graham)
