By James Wakahiu
Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary (CS) James Macharia has been asked to audit road projects being undertaken by the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) in Kiambu following concerns that contractors getting jobs are doing shoddy work.
Leaders and residents have protested that, while they welcome the authority’s move to improve the rural road network, the workmanship of some of the contractors is wanting.
At Kawaida village in Kiambaa, which is represented by Paul Koinange, who is the chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Security, locals and the Cianda MCA Phillip Mubea were forced to intervene to stop a contractor from off-loading what they claimed was substandard rehabilitation materials.
Sarah Muthoni, a Kawaida resident, told the media that last year, during a public participation exercise, they were promised that the two-kilometer road that connects the village to the main road would be tarmacked but delays forced them to repair the road themselves.
KeRRA, which is headed by acting Director-General Philemon Kandie took up the project and a contractor mandated to facilitate upgrading of the road to bitumen status by delivering 110 lorries of soft stone. Instead, the local claim that the contractor delivered a mixture of soft stone, murram, and soil which only served to render the road more impassable.
“We were happy to see lorries come with the materials to rehabilitate the road but upon checking the materials, the murram was laced with soil and we stopped them from offloading the materials since they were substandard. As residents if we allow this when the rains come, we will suffer more,” said Muthoni.
She added: The minister and KeRRA bosses should be making follow-ups to inspect these projects because even if President Uhuru (Kenyatta) is keen to have the roads rehabilitated, contractors are failing him.”
Kiambaa Deputy County Commissioner Peter Maina visited the project in the company of the area Ward Rep and confirmed that the materials were substandard.
“There has not been any other incident like this one and I thank the residents of Kaspert in Kawaida for being vigilant,” said Maina.
In Ruiru Constituency, residents and the local leaders have not only protested over delays in the works for the Membely- BTL Conference Centre and Kamaki-Rainbow roads but also poor workmanship, with one of the projects having been under construction for more than six years.
“Sometimes we fail to understand why these projects delay. A contractor will boldly do shoddy work and even delay because it seems nobody audits his or her work. This culture needs to change,” Joseph Kamau, a businessman who depends on the Kamaki-Rainbow road said on Friday, March 19.
The government has been working on an estimated 4, 100 kilometers in rural areas as part of the Sh300 billion-10, 000 kilometers of Low Volume Seal Roads (LVSR) program across the country through KeRRA.
