This archive report was first published on 14 June 2020.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to visit his Central Kenya backyard as early as next month, with several development projects nearing completion. The visit comes as Cabinet Secretaries and other technocrats have been touring the region, inspecting the progress of various projects.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia recently toured the proposed Sh30 billion 540-kilometre Mau Mau Cluster Roads in Murang’a and Nyeri counties. The project, which is expected to create a second artery connecting four counties in central Kenya with Naivasha Dry Port, is set to be launched by the President after the necessary preparations are made.
On Thursday, Agriculture CS Peter Munya was in Murang’a, addressing coffee leaders at Kenol market and inspecting New Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (KPCU) factories being rehabilitated as part of the revival of the collapsed KPCU. Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Cecily Kariuki also toured Mulika Irrigation project in Mugoiri, which is 78 per cent complete and designed to be completed in October.
Other projects in the region include the Sh5 billion rehabilitation of the moribund metre gauge railway between Nairobi and Nanyuki, and the Sh20 billion Thiba Dam project in Kirinyaga. The president may also swing off to tour the completed Othaya Level 6 Hospital, which is modelled as the regional teaching and referral hospital and centre of excellence for Mt Kenya.
Political observers believe the president is planning to fulfil a tour he has postponed in the last year due to a combination of factors, including a crowded presidential diary and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Senate Chief Whip Irung’u Kang’ata estimates that the visit is likely to happen around August or September, once the country is reopened from the Covid-19 restrictions.
