Narok County Faced With Major Constraint of Poor and Deplorable Roads

Author: JKekanae, Narok Let’s Talk

Narok county in the past years was faced with a major constraint of poor and deplorable roads.
Despite the region earning the country huge amounts of revenue from tourism, it’s also best known for the production of horticultural goods. Complaints had been that produce from farmers worth millions of shillings goes to waste on a daily basis as transporters could not access farms on time and produce destinations. This forced vehicles and trucks ferrying their produce to seek alternative routes that were longer and avoided the areas during the rainy season. This also led to increased prices in farm produce at the markets while some produce would go bad due to their perish ability levels. The residents accused the area leadership of neglecting them despite paying taxes without any delays which should be utilized appropriately in maintaining the infrastructure.
Dust would build up in towns and along roads due to daily human activities which in turn led to great environmental pollution and health associated problems to the county residents. The road leading to the referral hospital, police station and county offices have huge potholes and some have gullies. Huge gaps on a road where asphalt used to be could damage tyres, make cars swerve and cause collisions. “When you look inside the pothole you see a very thin layer of tarmac and stones. A vehicle must go slow in order to maneuverer the pothole, otherwise it will cause an accident.” Said Lydia Naserian, a resident Narok town. “The leaders were choosing to use choppers to avoid the discomfort that comes with using the road.” Said Ezekiel Lekishon, also a Narok resident.
Construction, development and maintenance the roads had been neglected for almost 50 years by the past regimes. The county government started constructing 22 roads which linked farmers to the market and boost tourism in the area as the dilapidated state of the road was also making it difficult for tourists to access parks.
Narok County marked a milestone in its infrastructure development with the launch of 38 KMs of tarmac roads in Narok Town. The new roads were in 4 main sections covering the CBD, Lenana Estate, Majengo, Total area and the Maasai Mara university. Getting residents well connected through good roads has improved service delivery, giving rise to new market centers and has opened up closed areas for business and settlement.
Already, the county government has upgraded over 1,500km of rural road within the years it has been in office. As a way of supporting the Narok county government implement its town plan, the National Government has shown support by constructing Narok – Mau Narok road and soon the highway will be in use decongesting the Mai Mahiu – Bomet highway that passes along Narok town. Tarmacking of the Maji Moto – Sekenani road that leads to the gate of the prestigious Mara is in progress close to completion. This has revitalized the Maasai Mara game reserve promoting all year round visits to the game reserve.
It is my prayer and hope that this regime will fulfill all it’s promises to the residents on better roads and hence proving to the nation that devolution works.