Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) is on the spot for designing roads without putting any efforts to consider other road users and people who do business along the road.
Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi who is the Senate Committee on Roads and Transport and Infrastructure singled-out the ongoing construction of James Gichuru-Kamandura highway, which he said had economically killed several trading centres.
“If you look at the design of the highway, you will realise that towns such as Kinoo and Zambezi will never be the same again once the road is completed even if service lanes are made,” said the Senator adding that the design would have been made such that accessing the centres from both sides is easy.
Last week, Wamatangi led his committee members on a fact -finding tour of the multi-billion-shilling project after people affected by its construction complained about delayed compensation.
The close to 5,000 property owners, sub-letees and business owners narrated how they had incurred huge losses after their premises were marked for demolition two years ago.
A sizeable number of them are staring at the auctioneer’s hammer after they failed to repay loans.
They accused the National Land Commission (NLC) and KeNHA of taking them in circles whenever they demanded compensation.
NLC Acting chief executive Kabale Tache assured them that they would all be given awards by next month after which they will be compensated forthwith. She, however, noted that property ownership disputes and succession issues were the major causes of the compensation delays.