Part of the Mombasa-Nairobi-Malaba road that Raila says NASA will transform into a dual carriageway if elected. [Photo/ businessdailyafrica.com]
The National Super Alliance (NASA) government will build a dual carriageway running from the port city of Mombasa to the border towns of Busia and Malaba, opposition leader Raila Odinga has said.
Raila said the road that connects Mombasa and Busia and Malaba had been neglected by previous governments despite its importance in promoting trade between Kenya and neighbouring Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and South Sudan.The former premier said his attempts after the 2002 general election when he was Roads minister to upgrade the highway to dual carriageway were thwarted by government intrigues that denied the project funding.The projected was to be financed by the Kenyan government and the African Development Bank.“When I was Roads minister, I conceived the idea of building a superhighway from Mombasa to Malaba and from Mau Summit to Kisumu to Busia but my dream died because they said there was no money,” he said in Busia town on Sunday at a NASA rally.After the 2002 general polls Raila had been appointed by then president Mwai Kibaki Roads minister.He, however, did not live for long in cabinet when he together with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and the late George Saitoti were ejected from government for campaigning against a draft to the new Constitution.At the time of his departure from cabinet a survey had already been conducted following his proposal that the Mombasa-Malaba and Busia road be upgraded into a dual carriageway.All structures along the road which had illegally been built on the road reserve were marked for demolition.Intrigues over the demolitions, however, thwarted the planned upgrade of the highway that links East Africa’s landlocked countries to the port of Mombasa.There were claims that some of the structures earmarked for demolition were owned by senior government officials who had vehemently opposed Raila’s project.