Members of the Kogony Clan in Kisumu County took to the streets to protest over the poor state of a key road, which they claim has cut them off from the rest of the community.
The 7km Nkurumah road which is the only link to Usoma village from Kisumu-Busia Highway they said has turned into a death trap with over 9 people killed in freak accidents due to the poor state of the road.
Several others, they claim have been maimed and injured through accidents mainly caused by boda boda and vehicles along the road which also leads to the Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC) Kisumu depot.
Kogony Council of Elders Secretary General (SG) Morris Roche said heavy trucks ferrying fuel from KPC and soda from Coca-Cola’s Equator Bottlers company located on the road have exacerbated the condition with no effort from the two firms to repair the road.
This, he added, has seen the community lag in development despite having ceded over 1, 000 acres of their land to the government for the expansion of Kisumu International Airport.
In a statement to the media during the protests, Roche said the community was living in fear since in the event of a disaster evacuation efforts would be hampered by the poor condition of the road.
The only other route to the area from Kirembe off the Kisumu-Busia highway, he said, was closed by the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).
“The community ceded their land to the government with promises of development which has turned out to be a mirage going by the violations we are subjected to day and night,” he said.
He went on,” It is ironic that the road is named after a great Pan African Statesman Kwame Nkurumah who would not have agreed to see this injustice,” he said.
Usomaki Social Justice Center Convener Millicent Muchilwa said women and people Living with Disability (PWDs) have been the worst hit.
Expectant women and school children inhale exhaust fumes from trucks hauling goods on the road compromising their health.
She called on the national and county governments to urgently take up the matter to avert further loss of lives.
By cutting off the community, she added cases of teenage pregnancies have increased with the area having a huge Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) burden.
Collins Kodhek, Convener Social Justice Center Working Group Western Chapter called out the national and county governments for failure to fix the killer road.
The lobby group, he said, would institute public litigation proceedings against the two levels of government over the laxity if urgent action is not taken to fix the road.
Kenya Pipeline Corporation and Equator Bottlers, he added must play an active role through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to ensure the road is motorable to avert further loss of lives.
The government, he added, must own up to the menace and move to compensate accident victims on the road besides instituting urgent measures to have it fixed.
Kodhek issued a three-day ultimatum to the national government to start repairs on the road failure to which the community will carry out demonstrations every Monday and Friday to advance their course.
