Narrow highway major cause of congestion, accidents in Malaba, says Kaunya

The narrow highway leading to Malaba One Stop Border Post is the main cause of congestion and recurrent accidents in Malaba, Teso North MP Oku Kaunya has said.

He said the government should swiftly act by expanding the road to ease border crowding and reduce accidents happening between Koteko and Malaba town.

The MP said hundreds of lives have been lost as the key road linking Kenya to Uganda is narrow and it is time the government acted by dualling the highway to avert more deaths.

“The issue of the highway from Kanduyi-Malaba going to Uganda is an issue of concern particularly because of the congestion caused by the trailers that carry goods to Uganda and the East African region,” Kaunya said.

“We as leaders in this region have been concerned and it has been my concern that the government has not been able to act to reduce the impact of the road congestion in terms of accidents that have been caused."

He said trailers occupy one side and they bypass cars in an area where only one car is supposed to pass.

“The many lives we have lost along this road call for government action to dual the road between Kanduyi and Malaba,” he said.

The approximately three kilometres stretch between Kocholya and Ikapolok claimed four lives in mid-October.

According to Kaunya, the Kenya National Highways Authority besides dualling the highway should build a separate lane for onflowing and oncoming cargo trucks.

This, the MP said, will limit traffic competition between heavy trucks and other road users on the main highway.

“I want to call on the government to move with speed and help by ensuring that dualling is done so that the road becomes secure for the users,” the second-term ODM lawmaker said.

 “Dualling will also save time wasted in terms of movement of goods and promote the development of the area around Malaba which is important for the purpose of job creation.”

Kaunya spoke less that two months after National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula said the expansion of the Malaba-Kanduyi highway into a dual carriageway will start next financial year.

The dualling, Wetang'ula said, will quicken transport along that part of the Northern Corridor, increase Kenya’s earnings from regional trade, limit cargo trucks traffic snarl-ups as well as reduce accidents.

Wetang’ula, who spoke at Kenya Medical Training College Teso campus, said modernising the Malaba-Kanduyi highway was long overdue.

He urged residents to support the project that is also set to improve the economy of the Kenya-Uganda border community.

Wetang'ula said those who will be affected by the project will be compensated.

Calls for dualling of the highway have been on for over five years.

During President Uhuru Kenyatta’s second term, then Transport CS James Macharia said the dualling of the Nairobi-Malaba highway was a priority in Uhuru’s plans to boost passenger movement as well as the movement of cargo between the port of Mombasa and Malaba.

Macharia’s successor Kipchumba Murkomen hinted at start of expansion works for the Malaba-Webuye-Eldoret highway when he visited Malaba in May.

Murkomen toured the border town where he hosted his Ugandan counterpart Musa Ecweru. He said modernising the highway will play a vital role in boosting Kenya’s trade with her neighbours.

The Malaba One Stop Border Post that is connected to the Malaba-Webuye highway handles 80 per cent of cargo from the Port of Mombasa destined for landlocked East African countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Eastern DR Congo, according to official data from Kenya Revenue Authority.

Malaba border is the busiest crossing point for trucks using the Northern Corridor, which connects landlocked countries of Uganda, DR Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi to the Port of Mombasa.

Approximately 1,000 cargo trucks pass through the Malaba One Stop Border Post each day.

Uganda is the biggest destination for transit cargo through Mombasa, accounting for about 83.2 per cent of transit volumes, according to Kenya Ports Authority.

South Sudan takes up 9.9 per cent while DR Congo, Tanzania and Rwanda account for 7.2 per cent, 3.2 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively. More than 80 per cent of these cargo transits through Malaba.