The upgrade of the 172km Isebania-Kisii- Ahero highway has opened up several towns and market centres along its corridor.
The construction has changed lives and enhanced the livelihoods of communities.
The road, which connects Northern Tanzania to Uganda and South Sudan through Kisumu, was a nightmare for motorists before the rehabilitation.
Travel time has been significantly reduced as potholes that bedevilled the highway and narrow bridges have now been repaired.
The section between Kisii and Oyugis was bad and the section between Migori and Rongo was extremely narrow.
Numerous accidents along the entire stretch have now been reduced by the widening and re-carpeting of the road.
This milestone achievement has been done in record time.
The contract for the construction was awarded in 2017 and included opening up several feeder roads that link up to the main road.
Several market centres that had been abandoned by county governments along the corridor have been resuscitated.
Traffic has significantly risen as motorists now prefer the road.
John Otieno, a resident of Oyugis town, says there are now more matatus plying the road and available until late hours. This has made his trips to Kisii and Migori towns more reliable.
Another trader, Joyce Akinyi, thanks the national government for the project.
“I wish the Constituency Development Fund will equally measure up,” Akinyi said.
She said her greengrocery business had improved.
The rehabilitation of the road has led to an upgrade in several community projects.
In Kasipul constituency the number of schools and churches have benefitted from the construction company’s corporate social responsibility.
The institutions that have benefitted are Nyangiela Secondary School where an access road was done, Kasimba Primary School where toilets were constructed, Nyawita Secondary School where a playground was levelled and the renovation of St Peter’s K’Otieno Secondary School.
The churches are Oyugis Seventh Day Adventist Church, Oyugis Christ Co-Workers Church and Oyugis Catholic Church that received donations of materials from the contractor.
The Kasipul constituency office equally benefitted from a donation of 60 tones of aggregates following a request from MP Charles Were.
Despite the performance by the contractor-China City Construction and Engineering Company, several politically instigated attempts have been made to derail the project.
Political leaders scouting for personal gain have made efforts to curtail the completion of the project.
Three questions have been raised in Parliament touching on environmental concerns associated with the construction of this mega road.
It was however established that the allegations were not founded on facts as the construction was guided by existing environmental regulations.
The company is one of the road construction companies that have a reputation for delivering projects on time.
It has more than 20 years of experience in engineering works and is involved in other national projects including the expansion of the Kenol- Nyeri road and other projects in the Coast region.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
