When the journey to and from home becomes endurance test

For residents of Komo, Githima and Munyu in the semi-arid area of Gatuanyaga, Thika Town Constituency, Kiambu County, the journey to and from home is punishing and a test of patience.

The Juja Farm-Athi-Komo-Githima-Gatuanyaga road which is under the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA), has been reduced to a rough, deeply eroded track that is increasingly difficult to navigate, leaving residents reluctant to venture out unless necessary.

Along the worst stretches, deep gullies cut across the road, some so pronounced that motorists have to stop and carefully identify a path through the craters and channels before attempting to proceed.

Motorcyclists, who for years have provided the most accessible means of transport for residents in the area, are increasingly finding the route difficult to negotiate, while cyclists have been forced to abandon their bicycles and walk through sections where there is hardly a passable track.

During dry weather, residents endure thick clouds of fine dust that rise from the exposed road whenever a vehicle manages to pass, settling on homes, shops and people along the roadside.

When the rains come, the dust gives way to porridge-like mud and stagnant water, with the deep gullies becoming channels through which runoff cuts across the already badly damaged road.

The situation has left many residents effectively cut off from reliable transport, with public service vehicles avoiding some sections of the route and private motorists reluctant to risk their vehicles on a road that has become increasingly difficult to use.

The road, which traverses parts of Juja and Thika Town constituencies, was started in 2021 with a mega launch presided over by former State Department of Infrastructure Principal Secretary, Paul Maringa at a cost of Sh3.9 billion, and was scheduled for completion in 2023.

It is approximately 25 km in length and commences at Salama (Ma Store), proceeding to Juja Farm. It then turns left towards Kwa Murage, traversing sloping terrain with rock outcrops towards Komo.

At Komo, it turns left and continues to terminate at Githima on the Munyu–Githima–Kongo’ki road.

However, sections of the project stalled, leaving residents of Komo, Githima and Munyu to contend with deteriorating conditions years after they expected to have a modern tarmacked road.

For residents who depend on the route to access markets, schools, farms and health facilities, the stalled project has imposed a considerable burden on their daily lives.

For the Gatuanyaga residents, the issue is not whether roads should be improved elsewhere in Kiambu, but whether the leaders they elected are doing enough to ensure projects started in their constituencies are completed.

Cecilia Ndichu, a resident of Munyu in Gatuanyaga, said the poor state of the road had made even routine journeys increasingly difficult, particularly when residents needed to transport sick people to health facilities.

Ndichu said residents expected their leaders to concentrate on addressing problems within their constituencies before seeking political positions beyond them, a reference to Thika Town MP Alice Ng’ang’a’s reported interest in the Kiambu governorship.

“Our MP should first do what we elected her to do, not going to vie for governorship when the work of MP seems to be too overwhelming. She keeps singing that he is in the government for Thika to get development, where is the development she keeps talking about?

All she does is moving around with a lorry loaded with hampers containing kilogrammes of beans and rice to give out as part of her campaign,” she said.

The criticism of Ms Ng’ang’a has become increasingly pronounced among residents who say they rarely see her in the affected areas despite the deteriorating state of the road network.

The complaints have taken on a political dimension as Ms Ng’ang’a increasingly positions herself for a possible gubernatorial bid where she has been promising to lobby rods tarmacking projects in other areas nobly in Lari and Juja constituencies even as her constituents decry of poor roads.

During this year’s Mashujaa Day celebrations, the Thika Town MP was in Lari, where she promised residents new tarmac roads in Kambaa, a move that residents along the stalled road have questioned given the condition of some roads in her own constituency.

For the Gatuanyaga residents, the issue is not whether roads should be improved elsewhere in Kiambu, but whether the leaders they elected to represent them are doing enough to ensure that projects already started in their constituencies are completed.

Kamau Gachanga, a resident of Komo in Gatuanyaga Ward, accused the MP of neglecting her constituency while spending time campaigning and appearing in other parts of Kiambu.

“The MP has neglected her work in the constituency and we are seeing her in other constituencies yet roads here are in very bad state. She has never stepped here to see the kind of suffering we are going through,” Mr Gachanga said.

At Komo Market, the state of the road has also become a concern for traders whose businesses depend on the movement of customers and goods.

Jane Wanjiru, a resident of the area, said the deteriorating roads had become one of the most visible signs of what she described as inadequate attention to problems within the constituency.

“We only see our MP in other constituencies while here things are out of control. The roads in this constituency are in very bad state,” she said.

Residents acknowledge that the Juja Farm-Athi-Komo-Githima-Gatuanyaga road falls under the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA), meaning its construction and maintenance are primarily the responsibility of the national government agency.

However, they argue that their elected representative has a responsibility to lobby the agency and push for the completion of a project that directly affects thousands of constituents.

“We know this road is under KeRRA and the work of the MP is to push them to complete this road, but what are we seeing? She is all over Kiambu when roads in her constituency are in dire state,” said John Karanja.

The road has also attracted the attention of Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi, who visited the area on Thursday and witnessed the deteriorating condition of the route.

Although the road is a national government project, the Governor said the county administration would intervene with a temporary measure to restore access for the affected residents as they await completion of the main project.

“The county government will deploy its equipment to rehabilitate the worst sections of the road and make it passable, particularly in areas where the deep gullies and erosion have made movement extremely difficult,” said the Governor.

Governor Wamatangi said the intervention was necessary because residents could not be left to continue suffering simply because the road fell under another level of government.