The government of Kenya has allocated Sh 2.1bn to complete stalled roads in Kisumu County. County Commissioner Josephine Ouko, Eng. Makau confirmed the report and said the national government is keen to ensure the roads are completed within schedule to ease transport in the Lakeside town
The roads to be covered include Kisumu Boys and Mamboleo Junction Road as well as Ahero interchange on the Kisumu-Kericho highway that have stalled since late last year. According to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) Nyanza regional Director Eng. Cleophas Makau, a new contract has been awarded to China Railways No. 10 Engineering Group of Companies to complete the 4.5km Mamboleo stretch at a cost of Sh 1.3bn
Another contractor, Zhongmei Engineering Group Limited will complete the stalled Ahero Interchange at a cost of Sh 809m. KeNHA is also in the process of tendering for the re-construction of the 463Km Mamboleo- Muhoroni- Kipsitet road within the next two weeks.
Releif to motorists and farmers
The dualling of Kisumu Boys and Mamboleo junction which was expected to be completed by December 2019 stalled after the Israeli firm, SBI Holdings, terminated the contract on September 2019 due to delayed payments. Zhongmei Engineering Company also terminated its contract for construction of the Ahero Interchange due to delayed payment by the authority. At the time of stalling, the Kisumu- Mamboleo road was 89% complete while the Ahero Interchange was 50% complete.
Kisumu City is expected to host the 2021 Africities Summit under the auspices of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA) from November which is expected to be attended by close to 10,000 foreign delegates. The completion of the roads will come as a big reprieve to motorists, residents, and business communities who have been up in arms over the poor state of the stalled sections of the road.
The re-construction of the Mamboleo- Muhoroni- Kipsitet road also brings a sigh of relief to all motorists and sugarcane farmers. The key agricultural road has been neglected for two decades. The road passes through the region’s sugar belt and is host to three major millers of Muhoroni, Chemilil, Kibos and the defunct Miwani sugar factories. The project will take 12 months to complete, and the contractors expected to move to site by next month.
