Road network will define Jubilee’s legacy in northern part of country

Fifty three years after independence and four presidents to boot, the North Eastern region of Kenya is yet enjoy a smooth ride on a stretch of tarmac.

Visitors to the major towns of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera are left dumbfounded by the dust which billows behind them as they drive along.

It is a pity that successive regimes are yet to regard inhabitants of this region as deserving of modern and motorable roads.

In 2007, the region voted for ODM after the party leadership succeeded in convincing the local electorate that if they win, they would experience tarmac roads for the first time in their lives.

This political side then had the Roads cabinet position in the Narc regime.

Between 2008 and 2012, the ODM side had the Prime Minister’s position and early in that Parliamentary term, there were high hopes that in their reign, they would fulfil the promise. 

It didn’t happen. This sparked a revolt and eventually several elected leaders bolted from ODM to Jubilee, I included.

Road network will be Jubilee’s hardest nut to crack as it seeks to return to the region to seek re-election. 

People in the region do not forget promises easily, and even this time, the promises Jubilee leaders made in the 2012/2013 campaign trail will prominently feature in 2017.

We support the government on the premise that it will help us make the lives of our people tolerable.

It borders on an abuse of rights for our people not to enjoy social services that the rest of the country is enjoying.

2016 must be the year the Jubilee government will redeem itself by doing something tangible in North Eastern.

The region bleeds from a lack of prioritisation when it comes to serious infrastructural development.

ROAD PROJECTS
For 20 years now, parliamentary Hansards have had numerous records of complaints of undone works on the crucial Modogashe-Habaswein-Wajir road and a cross section of other link roads in the region.

This road links the capital city to Wajir for traders and goods transiting via either Garissa or Isiolo.

It constitutes 70 per cent of the North Eastern link to the rest of the country, according to the department of Infrastructure.

Connections to smaller trading centres are impossible at the slightest drizzle.

Shockingly, looking at government records regarding the highly publicised 2,000 kilometres of tarmac road projects injects fears in my nerves that the next election will still come with similar excuses on why local roads are not done.

It isn’t just a North Eastern biting matter, you can read a systematic neglect of major roads in pastoralist areas.

The politically incorrect disaster in the making is that the design works that have dragged on for years are now complete.

However, the designs are painfully lying idle with no one keen to kick start any of the mega road projects.

Two key road designs that must be implemented before this year ends for the Jubilee government to make sense in this region are the Modogashe-Habaswein-Wajir and the Elwak-Rhamu-Mandera road.

To seal its dominance here, Jubilee must also open up the region to the Coast through tarmacking of the Masalani-Kotile-Malindi and Ijara-Bodhai-Lamu roads.

ECONOMIC BOOST
Need I say design works for shorter link roads in Garissa, Wajir and Mandera towns should start as a matter of urgency?

It cannot be that we lose out in the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura’s) 364 kilometres national programme as well as the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (Kerra’s) programme of 1,920 kilometres across the country.

Connecting Garissa, Wajir and Mandera will unleash the region’s potential in beef, milk and horticulture farming.

Exorbitant transport costs are hindering local economies as margins for goods to Garissa and Nairobi shrink due to bad roads.

In 2013, the region gave jubilee 175,032 votes against Cord’s 98,802.

Clanism aside, the roads, if done, could significantly boost the incumbent’s legacy in the marginalised area.

Ms Noor, a former nominated MP, is a politician in North Eastern: [email protected]