The entire 193-kilometer Kibwezi-Kitui-Tulia road will be opened to motorists after the successful laying of tarmac. – By Faith Mutete.
EPC Contractor Sino Hydro Corporation of China is working its final section; the Kitui by-pass before opening up the entire stretch to traffic.
This means the contractor has completed the tarmacking of the road ahead of the April 2021 deadline set by the Government.
The project will cut the time taken to commute from Kibwezi to Kitui from the initial tiresome 6 hours to just 2 hours.
Satellite towns have also experienced a boom in business and population, as a result of the enhanced activity along the road project.
Residents in four counties; Kitui, Machakos, Tharaka Nithi, and Makueni have directly and indirectly benefitted from employment and businesses.
In 2016, then Kitui Senator David Musila led a major demonstration to protest the delay in tarmacking the road.
However, Four years later the works are completed.
The 192 Kilometer road project under the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) starts at Kibwezi Town about 210km south of Nairobi and continues to the North through Ikutha and Mutomo to Kitui. It then proceeds to Kabati and onwards through Tulia to Migwani.
The upgrade of the road is meant to provide a direct route from Mombasa to Ethiopia on a direct alignment with less steep slopes, avoiding the need to pass through Nairobi.
