This archive report was first published on 15 July 2019.
As the sun sets on Thika Road, pedestrians continue to risk their lives crossing the busy highway. The installation of footbridges, a project that began in 2017, has been delayed for years, with the latest completion date set for next month.
According to the Kenya National Highways Authority, the project has been plagued by a lack of local welding capacity, forcing the contractor to outsource the work to China. This has resulted in a two-year delay, with the project now expected to be completed in the same timeframe it took to build the 42km highway.
It is unacceptable that the work has been outsourced instead of shipping in the equipment to do the job locally. If that was not possible, wouldn't it have been better to alter the project specifications to use materials that are locally available?
Kenya has a long history of building durable footbridges, long before the arrival of the heavy metallic structures favoured by Chinese contractors. We can only hope that no lives will be lost before the footbridges are finally installed.
