Gatundu residents hold demos to protest against poor road

Gatundu North residents are up in arms with a contractor doing the Thika-Magumu Road, a 68-kilometer project that remains an eyesore, four years since its construction began.

Irked that China State Construction Company, the contractor, had failed to fulfill the promises he made to fix the road, the furious road users planted bananas and trees on the dilapidated road near Mwea Police Station.

To further display their anger over the no-longer motorable road that has been affecting businesses, the residents also lit fires and using huge rocks barricaded the road paralyzing movement.

They took issue with the contractor for taking them in circles whenever they demanded to know why construction of the key road stalled, saying that going forward, motorists should find alternative routes to use as they will completely block movements.

Residents fault area MP

Also at the centre of their fury is failure by their MP Elijah Njoroge Kururia to lobby for its completion, decrying that unlike other areas where construction of roads are ongoing, Gatundu North remains behind.

The irate protesters demanded action by the local leadership to have the road fixed or they conduct mass protests against their inaction.

The major road linking Kiambu, Nyandarua and Murang’a Counties through Thika town, Mang’u, Kamwangi, Kanyoni, Kanjuku, Gakoe, Kirasha and Magumu has been at the centre of protests from furious road users who have been accusing the contractor of digging terraces on both sides of the road resulting in numerous accidents, traffic snarl ups and mechanical damage of vehicles.

From August 2020

Construction works which include re-tarmacking and expansion of the width of the carriageway began in August 2020 and was set for completion in December 2021.

Redoing the ring road had been envisioned to decongest the Nairobi metropolitan area by linking the busy Thika Road to the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway.

Four years since the construction began, numerous potholes, clouds of dust, and dangerous terraces continue to make the road users regret why the contractor started repair of the road if he had no capacity to complete.

Due to the poor state of the road, commuters have been forced to pay higher fares by the few matatus that still ply that route, with most now going the longer way through Nairobi.

Users of the run-down road decried major movement hurdles that delay transportation of their farm produce such as tea, avocados, coffee, milk and pineapples.

Drivers on the other end regretted massive breaking down of their vehicles which they are now forced to expensively maintain regularly.