Bad road: County blames the rain following backlash after man died on way to hospital
(Left) Viral photo of Geoffrey Maritim being ferried to the main road by close to eight men, taking turns on August 16,2025. (Right) Photo of a healthy Geoffrey Maritim before his death.
The county government continues to use rain as an excuse whenever questions on the state of rural roads are raised.
The issue has resurfaced after Mtaa Wangu highlighted the death of Geoffrey Maritim, a 45-year-old from Chepkosa village in Mauche, Njoro Sub-county.
Neighbors recounted how they battled the muddy feeder roads in an attempt to reach the main road, but he died before receiving medical care, adding to at least three similar deaths in the area linked to delayed access to hospitals.
To clear the air, Mtaa Wangu sought clarification on whether the road was under county or national jurisdiction.
The County Executive for Infrastructure, Eng. Michael Kamau says the road is within the county’s mandate, but had no dedicated budget in the last financial year.
“There was a blanket allocation of Sh. 2 million for the ward under the Imarisha programme,” he says.
Ironically, through a dedicated website of Governor Susan Kihika, county records show that through the Imarisha Barabara Initiative, 184.52 kilometers of roads are improved in the first quarter of 2025, yet the two-kilometer stretch in Njoro that could have saved a life is not part of that tally.
Kamau notes that the road initiative moves from ward to ward due to limited equipment.
“By the onset of the rains, we had not yet reached the cluster covering Njoro and Molo wards,” he says, stressing that the funds remain secure as development votes rolled over to the current financial year and that it is the responsibility of the Member of County Assembly (MCA) to identify roads for the department to implement.
He further notes that graders were deployed to the Kaptich-Kwa Chief area last week, but work was disrupted by rain.
“It is unfortunate that gravel roads are worst affected during the rainy season, but it is not practical to fix them when it is still wet,” he says.
Eng. Kamau also points out that several roads in the ward were rehabilitated in the last financial year including Tetet cutline (2 km grading and gravelling), Teret Secondary School road (0.6 km grading, gravel and culverts installation), Kalyet Teret (2.3 km grading, gravelling and culverts), Chebitet cutline (2 km grading, gravelling and culverts), and Kapkembu School road (0.9 km grading and gravelling).
Still, residents insist that the county’s flagship Imarisha Barabara, launched to rehabilitate and improve access roads, has yet to actualize its promise.
Similar concerns have been raised in the past year in Njoro, Molo, Kuresoi North, and Kuresoi South, where families have been forced to carry patients on makeshift stretchers, transport coffins by hand, or even load them onto tractors because roads are impassable.
The same poor roads also disrupt Nakuru’s role as a food basket, with lorries and tractors ferrying produce often seen on social media stuck in the mud for hours, delaying supplies and increasing losses for farmers.