Outpouring of public anger over neglected road

Kalambani Bridge in Tseikuru sunk. The concrete plastered across the road gave in February this year.

The month of love brought concern to Tseikuru residents who are saying they have to be more careful when crossing Kalambani which leads to Kalonzo’s rural home, Kora National Reserve and Masyungwa location.

The Mwingi Times story detailing the scene of neglect is what sparked this criticism. Mwingi Times editor Musyoka Ngui did the story on Facebook and Twitter.

It was picked up by Lord Abraham Mutai who started detailing the state of Kenyan roads. The political class is busy campaigning for next year’s general elections as wananchi wonder what went wrong in prioritizing urgent matters.

We tagged Kura and Kenha as well as local leaders on this matter and none of them had responded to our requests for comment by the time we went to press.

The United People of Mwingi discussed this poor state of road making it trend the whole of yesterday. 85 people commented while 65 reacted to what they termed as bad politics and lack of unity of purpose for our leaders.

Let us sample some of the hits and misses. We won’t publish unsavoury remarks traded on the day of truth.

Flooding

“It is normal for roads to get damaged during rainy seasons due to volume of water in these rivers. However, being home to Kalonzo doesn’t mean the road cannot have potholes”, wrote John Musyimi. Alfred Petros responded that he was “only giving us a lame excuse”.

Other Facebook users called for wider consultation for both national and county governments to renovate and maintain the road.

For the most part, Wiper leader Dr Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka got the biggest flak. Residents said he has been in government for 30 years and this “legacy” was an eyesore.

Despite the heat the post generated, most readers were in agreement that there was a need to prioritize repair of the road and put aside partisan interests for the sake of Musangi’s welfare.

 Two camps clashed with some defending Muvisi while others lambasted him.

Today, Lord Abraham Mutai (@ItsMutai) retweeted our story under the hashtag #StateOfKenyanRoads.  Other than copying word for word our earlier post, he added that Kalonzo never raised the matter with anyone despite using the road. “He (Kalonzo) goes through this road daily as he heads to his home. He has never raised this issue with anyone. He wants to be President” wrote Mr Mutai. The post was retweeted 6 times and attracted 35 likes.

While some tweeps said Kalonzo “shifted” from Tseikuru to his Yatta home,  Taliesin said whether he shifted or not, that’s his home area.

Story by MUSYOKA NGUI.