Gov’t requires Ksh.30B to repair roads damaged by floods - CS Murkomen

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said that the government will require about Ksh.30 billion to repair all roads damaged by floods nationwide.

Speaking on Wednesday when he inspected the Gamba section of the Lamu-Witu-Garsen road that was swept away by floods, Murkomen said many roads and bridges had been affected across the country.

He said the current regime was still assessing the damage and approximately between Ksh.25 billion and Ksh.30 billion would be required across different bodies in his ministry.

According to CS Murkomen, the government is yet to establish the different State bodies for which the money would be required such as the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) and the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA).

“We have been affected widely as a nation and as a ministry because we have lost key infrastructures including roads and bridges. We have access but we are still doing validation so that we establish roads belonging to KeRRA, KeNHA, and KURA and because a lot of bridges were destroyed, we will need a lot of money to rebuild,” said the CS.

“We are estimating between Ksh.25 billion to Ksh.30 billion.”

The ongoing rains which began in March have led to the destruction of property and have also resulted in the loss of human and animal lives.

According to Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura's report on Monday, the devastating floods caused more than Ksh.80 billion in infrastructure damages, adding that the figure only represented damage to roads and is expected to rise once other sectors are taken into account.