Kisumu seeks Sh1b to repair roads destroyed by floods

Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o (center) speaking to residents.[Courtesy]

Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o requires Sh1 billion to repair roads destroyed by floods.

An assessment by the county government indicates that the floods that displaced thousands of people in Kisumu also caused massive damage to rural access roads, bridges and culverts that require repairs.

“We want to be honest with our people. The recent floods messed our roads with some being rendered impassable,” said Infrastructure, Energy and Public Works CEC, Salmon Orimba.

Orimba told a public dialogue forum dubbed “Huduma Mashinani” that his department was reaching out to the National government to help fix the mess.

Residents of Seme Sub-County decried the sorry state of roads and appealed to the devolved unit to address it.

They complained that the poor roads were affecting access to markets, schools and hospitals.

CEC for Public Service, Judith Oluoch, asked residents to give feedback on the county government’s performance.

“Huduma Mashinani programme started last year. We are visiting all the eight sub-counties and engaging the people on what they think about our development projects. We are now in Phase 2 of the program,” said Oluoch.

She added: “The county government started this program in a bid to monitor the impact of our development projects in the villages. It has proved a big success."

Oluoch explained that Huduma Mashinani was a feedback platform where government officers directly listen to public views on service delivery, in a bid to inform certain policy decisions and programs beneficial to the people of Kisumu.

During the Seme forum, members of the public raised issues concerning poor roads, health, education and provision of water.

Most speakers sought to know when the county government will complete the construction of a mortuary at Kombewa subcounty. The forums in the sub counties run up to June 28.