A bulldozer at work on the Kibwezi-Mutomo-Kitui road at Mutomo area, Kitui South. (Tom Waita/hivisasa.com)
Kitui Senator David Musila has lauded the national government for initiating construction of the long-ignored Kibwezi-Mutomo-Kitui road saying its tarmacking would accelerate the region’s economy growth.
Speaking yesterday when he visited the contractor’s site in Mutomo, Kitui South, Mr Musila welcomed the State’s commitment to upgrade the main road to bitumen standards.
The Chinese contractor, Sinohydro Corporation Limited, is on the ground and has started uprooting trees and clearing bushes to pave way for the imminent roadworks.
The road is the only Class B7 road which has remained untarmacked in the country despite constant lobbying from residents and local leaders since independence.
“We thank President Uhuru Kenyatta and his administration for making good their promise to the residents of Kitui and Makueni counties. We are happy that the roadworks have kicked off in earnest. “Our efforts to push for building of this road have finally borne fruits. We did not ‘eat’ teargas in vain,” said Musila.
The legislator noted that the road, once built, would boost trade and attract numerous investments thereby creating employment for the residents besides paving way for a wide range of social and physical infrastructure.
Musila has been on the forefront in lobbying for tarmacking of the road which successive regimes ignored.
Anti-riot police lobbed tear gas canisters at a peaceful demonstration which the Senator led early last year in the outskirts of Kibwezi Town to protest the poor state of the road.
Speaking after launching construction of the road at Mutomo Town in December last year, President Kenyatta said the road would spur the region’s economy by linking it with the Northern corridor beside easing transportation of commodities.
The President called the road “a major artery” that will open up the Ukambani counties of Kitui, Makueni and Machakos for rapid development.
He said the road project, which runs from Kibwezi through Ikutha, Mutomo, Kitui and Kabati to Migwani towns, will be done at cost of Sh18.4 billion.