Frustrated Thika residents rehabilitate estate roads after leaders fail to deliver

Frustrated residents of Thika River area in Muguga–Gatuanyaga, Thika East Sub-County, have taken matters into their own hands by rehabilitating dilapidated roads after years of neglect and repeated pleas to leaders fell on deaf ears.

Pooling resources, the community raised money to purchase hardcore and other materials, which they are now using to patch up the impassable stretches. They also hired labour to support the works, driven by the urgency of restoring access before the anticipated short rains set in.

“We could not just sit and wait any longer. Every election season, leaders come here with promises to fix our roads, but once they are elected, they disappear. Some of them even stopped picking our calls,” said one of the residents. 

The residents say the roads have been neglected for years, leaving them dusty in the dry season and completely muddy and impassable whenever it rains. With the October–December rains approaching, they feared the situation would worsen, cutting off access to their homes, schools, and businesses.

“The rains are coming, and if we don’t act now, we will be stranded. Our children will have to wade through mud to get to school. We are just doing what the county government has failed to do,” said a lady resident.

The residents also accused local leaders and the Kiambu County Government, mandated to repair and maintain feeder roads, of making empty promises and instead spending resources on propaganda.

“They use bloggers to paint a picture that everything is fine on the ground, yet people are suffering. And when they finally repair these roads, the work is so shoddy that within weeks, the potholes are back,” said a bodaboda operator.

The situation in Muguga/Gatuanyaga mirrors that of many other estates across the sub-county, where communities have resorted to self-help initiatives to fix broken infrastructure amid what they describe as poor service delivery.

“We are not repairing these roads because we are rich. We are doing it because we are desperate. Leaders have abandoned us, so we have to save ourselves,” one of them added.