Northern Kenya

Garissa-Nairobi road reopens following temporary repair at Kona Punda

Vehicles and people passing at the repaired Kona Punda section on the Garissa-Nairobi highway. (Photo: Issa Hussein)

By Issa Hussein | Tuesday, May 28, 2024

For the last two days, tipper trucks have been offloading murram at the flooded Kona Punda section while excavators levelled the ground to allow temporary passage of traffic.

Transport along the Garissa-Nairobi Highway has resumed after the flooded Kona Punda section was temporarily fixed. Fresh floods had rendered the road impassable last week, just a day after it was initially restored, affecting transport that had been paralysed for four weeks.

According to the North Eastern KeNHA Regional Director, Hannigton Kidagisa, the current work undertaken by road engineers was a temporary measure to allow traffic passage ahead of major road construction at the destroyed Kona Punda section.

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"The main project was advertised and incorporated into the construction of the new Garissa-Tana bridge. It will kick off once the floods subside," he said.

He assured the public that the incorporated mega projects would provide a lasting solution to the road crisis that paralysed transport between Nairobi and Garissa during the recent March-April rains and the December El Niño rains when overflow from River Tana flooded the Kona Punda section, forcing travellers to rely on speed boats.

He added that the contractor and KeNHA staff were on-site to improve the passage of traffic along the Kona Punda section.

Vehicles passing at the repaired Kona Punda section on the Garissa-Nairobi highway. (Photo: Issa Hussein)

Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen, who recently toured Garissa with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to assess the impact of the floods, said the new Garissa-Tana bridge project would cost Sh1.8 billion, with another Sh1.2 billion set aside to reconstruct the destroyed Mororo-Kona Punda section.

For the last two days, tipper trucks have been offloading murram at the flooded Kona Punda section while excavators levelled the ground to allow temporary passage of traffic.

Drivers using the route, who spoke to The Eastleigh Voice, expressed concerns that fresh floods might reoccur before the road is permanently restored.

Abdirahman Farah, a truck driver, said the current condition of the road was not promising.

"If it rains tonight, this road will be rendered impassable again. Last week we expected the road repairs to withstand fresh floods, but we were shocked to relapse into the previous crisis," he claimed.

Abraham Pepela, a boda boda operator along the Garissa-Madogo route, also expressed fear that the road's condition was still worrying. "This is just soil filled here to allow the passage of people and vehicles. We are still worried about how long it will last until the proposed project finally resolves this recurring crisis," he noted.

He said that for the past four weeks, residents of Madogo in Tana River County and passengers traveling to and from North Eastern Kenya had suffered greatly due to the crisis.

Aden Ibrahim, a civil servant in Garissa town who resides in Madogo, narrated how he was compelled to pay KSh 400 daily for a speed boat commute between home and work. He expressed hope that a lasting solution would be found to end the crisis at Kona Punda.

According to Aden, the temporary repair of the road was a reprieve for many in similar situations.

The flooded Kona Punda section has affected transport between Nairobi, Tana River, Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera counties. The road also links North Eastern Kenya to Mombasa and Lamu counties.