A new era beckons for the Tharaka Nithi as the tarmacking of Miomponi-Mukothima-Gatunga Road gets underway, boosting rural connectivity and economic growth.
A key President Ruto’s electoral pledge in 2022, the road project which links six rural trading centres, was rolled out by the Kenya Rural Roads Authority towards the end of last year.
According to a project brief compiled by KERRA, the 30 kilometre road links Irunduni, Miomponi, Turima Tweru Junction, Mukothima, Gaciongo, Manyanga, and Gatunga, offering great relief to locals.
During a recent site visit, locals exuded confidence that the new road is going to unlock great economic opportunities for the region adding that they will be able to get their farm produce to the markets without transport hitches.
The area is predominantly characterized by subsistence and small-scale farming, with maize, beans, millet, sorghum, green grams, cowpeas, cassava, and sweet potatoes being the main crops grown, largely dependent on seasonal rainfall.
Livestock keeping, particularly goats, sheep, and cattle, is also widely practiced and forms a key livelihood for the local communities.
“Some of the anticipated benefits of the road project include opening up the area by improving connectivity to the existing road network and major trunk roads,” the KERRA project brief reads in part.
“It is also promoting trade and economic activities within market centres and trading points along the road corridors while enhancing access to markets for agricultural produce, thereby improving household incomes and livelihoods,” it adds.
Watching the heavy equipment rolling a short distance away, residents led by local youth leader Muthuri Naman said the development heralds a new beginning for the region which has been marginalized in the past.
“Nobody ever thought that Tharaka or Mukothima would ever get a tarmacked road so we are very grateful to Deputy President Prof. Kithure Kindiki for the good work he is doing. Once this road is completed, it will be used by many people; not just the people of Mukothima,” said Naman.
“This road becomes impassable during rainy seasons and very dusty during dry seasons. So it is our hope that people will have an easy time traveling all the way to Meru and other places once it is completed,” he pointed out.
In addition, Naman said that the road project had opened job opportunities for the local community with the majority of them being the youth.
“This road is going to have a big impact on the lives of people here because many people here are farmers and they normally struggle to get their produce to the market but once the road is completed, they will access the markets easily,” he said.
“Secondly, once the road is completed businesses will expand because again we have Tharaka University not far from here. This road will improve access to the university. We are also happy because this road project has expanded job opportunities for the youth because many youth have been hired by the contractor,” he added.
For her part, Esther Nyagah, 60, said that she never thought she would see the tarmacking of rural roads in her lifetime. “I am happy to see the ongoing tarmacking of the road because we have suffered a lot because of the poor state of this road,” she said, adding: “It was very dusty but now it is being tarmacked. So, we are praying for our son, (DP Kithure Kindiki) to continue working hard until he becomes President. We also want him to keep remembering us.”
Noting that the road becomes impassable when it rains, Nyagah who sells vegetables at Mukothima Market said that the painful experience now belongs to the past. “It was very difficult going to Mukothima but movement is now better. Travelling has been made easy with the ongoing road project,” she said confidently.
