Nyando MP Fred Outa has asked Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma to withdraw a case against the Kenya National Highways Authority (KenHA) so as to allow for the commencement of construction works along the Awasi-Katito Road.
Mr Outa said most of the road works by KenHA in the counties have been stalled after governors went to court to have the roads transferred to counties.
According to Outa, rehabilitation of the Awasi-Katito Road was budgeted for in the 2013/2014 Financial Year, but the works stopped after governors petitioned the national government to transfer what they termed county roads to the county government.
“What I know is that Awasi-Katito Road could have been tarmacked by now. But the court case has stopped everything. There are governors who have withdrawn their cases, and KenHA has already commenced works in their areas. Ranguma can as well withdraw the case so that we have the roads which had been put under the project done,” said Outa when he addressed a gathering at Ahero Multipurpose Hall on Monday.
The legislator said he was ready to facilitate the commencement of the work because tarmacking of the road would open up the area for investors to build the county’s economy.
“Currently there is a lot of push and pull between the county and the national governments over classification of roads, but that should not be used to block the projects which had been budgeted for, since the money may be diverted to other projects and leaving wananchi to suffer,” he said.