Government Rolls Out Sh18 Billion Road Works in Nyanza

In what will be the largest road construction projects in Nyanza region in recent times, the government has rolled out the upgrading of infrastructure across the five counties in the region.

The state announced that it will be reconstructing the 170km Isebania-Kisii-Ahero highway, expected to cost a whooping Sh18 billion and will extend to cover 374 kilometers across Migori, Kisii, Nyamira, Homa Bay, and Kisumu counties.

Hospitals, markets, and several feeder roads will also be improved in the multi-billion shilling project that will offer employment opportunities to thousands of youth.

Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital, the Nyamira Level Five Hospital, and the Nyabondo Mission Hospital in Kisumu are the three medical facilities that will greatly benefit from the construction of Isebania-Kisii-Ahero highway.

In addition, the hospitals will receive ambulances and emergency care facilities to enhance and improve rapid-response services in the region.

China Henan International Corporation Group and China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Company Ltd are the two companies that that won the lucrative contract for the works.

Kevin Nyabuto, an engineer from the Kenya National Highways Authority, said that the project will help open up the region for trade between the counties as well as with neighboring countries.

“The contractor has put up a camp near Kamagambo area in Migori County, a sign that construction has already begun. The objective of the project is to improve the transportation of import and export goods and passenger traffic along the Tanzania-Kenya-South Sudan corridor,” Nyabuto said.

The project also encompasses improvement of feeder roads linking markets, social, administrative, and educational centers such as the Nyachenge-Tabaka-Ogembo road and the Suneka-Rangwe road.

The Kenya National Highways Authority director-general, Peter Mundinia, termed the roads rehabilitation project as ‘massive’ and ‘the biggest-ever in Nyanza region’.

“The upgrade will include spacious paved shoulders, climbing lanes, footbridges, and overpasses,” he said.