Kajiado County has leased road works machinery from the national government under the Mechanical and Transport Fund to upscale road infrastructure in the area.
According to the county Governor Joseph ole Lenku, they have leased the machinery to do 782.5 kilometres of road works worth Sh160 million.
The scope of work will include opening up of inaccessible places, murramming, gravelling and grading of earthen roads, currently in a deplorable state due to the heavy rains witnessed in the county in April last year.
While commissioning the machinery in Kajiado, Lenku noted that the county government has allocated Sh112 million, while each of the 25 wards in Kajiado has set aside Sh2 million to lease the equipment.
At the same time, the governor directed the county roads department to prioritize opening up waterways, especially in urban areas like Kitengela, Kiserian, Rongai, Ilbissil and Namanga, as they face a greater threat of flooding and drainage, as they carry a dense population unlike the rural areas.
Lenku remarked that through the lease contract, the county will benefit from quality and cheaper roadworks as the machine operators are competent in their work, unlike contractors from outside, who are not well trained.
However, Lenku committed that they will pay contractors and all service providers owed by the county.
“We have more than Sh2 billion in pending bills and in the 2025/2026 financial budget, we will reduce development allocation to clear these bills, as it is unfair for someone to offer services and not get paid,” he said.
On his part, Engineer Richard Thitai, the Chief Mechanical engineer from the Mechanical and Transport Division, said that their collaboration with the county will ensure that road projects are well designed, prioritized based on their importance as well as impact, and be executed efficiently.
He added that maintenance activities will be carried out efficiently, minimizing disruptions to road users while prolonging the lifespan of the infrastructure.
“Optimizing of the available funds by pulling resources and leveraging on the economies of scale will enable both the Mechanical and Transport Division and counties to achieve cost efficiencies, enabling more exclusive roads improvement within budget constraints and ensuring that taxpayers money is used effectively while yielding maximum benefits for the communities,” Thitai said.
The Engineer assured the county that all the machineries allocated for the project are utilized optimally for all the construction works in line with the contract terms.
Thitai also assured the governor that the Mechanical and Transport Division team inclusive of engineers, mechanics, technicians and plant operators, possesses the requisite technical knowledge and expertise in road construction, maintenance and rehabilitation, and this will be fully exploited for the benefit of Kajiado County.
Jacktone Achola, the County Executive Committee Member for Roads, Transport, Public Works and Energy, said that every Member of the County Assembly gave a list of three roads that will either be graded, opened up, murramed, or graveled and the machineries will do exactly what they agreed upon.
Achola remarked that the 5 types of machineries namely; bulldozers, graders, rollers, tippers and excavators, will start work immediately across all the wards, as each has been allocated its set of equipment.
He disclosed that out of the 782.5 kilometres of road works to be done, 722.5 kilometres will be of roads to be opened up, while 60 Kilometres will be graveled.
By Diana Meneto
