President William Ruto has launched the upgrading of the 12-kilometre Rabuor-Chiga road in Kisumu County to bitumen standards.
Te project is expected to be completed within 18 months.
Ruto said the government had allocated Sh23billion to road projects in Kisumu, with nine new roads already under construction.
He also flagged off machinery for work on the Rabuor-Chiga road and said the Kibos-Nyamongo road was among those due to be upgraded.
The projects are part of the government’s wider programme to improve road connectivity and revive stalled infrastructure projects across Kenya.
Ruto said the government had paid nearly Sh250billion to contractors whose projects had stalled because of delayed payments, allowing construction to resume.
“Through dedication and planning, we have paid close to Sh250 billion so that contractors who were working on the roads that were stalled can go back to continue construction of roads in our country,” he said.
The president said better roads would improve the movement of people and goods, boost economic activity and open up areas that had remained poorly connected.
The Rabuor-Chiga road is expected to improve transport between the surrounding communities and access to markets and essential services.
Ruto also used the event to defend his administration’s broad-based government arrangement, saying it was intended to bring communities and counties together.
He said Kenyans would have an opportunity in the 2027 general election to reject what he described as politics based on tribalism, hatred and discrimination.
“The broad-based government was intended to bring communities and counties together and move the country away from politics based on tribalism and discrimination,” he said.
His comments come as his administration deepens its political engagement with the opposition-linked Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), particularly in Nyanza, during his four-day tour of the region.
ODM national chairperson Gladys Wanga praised the government’s investment in the region, particularly in roads.
She said residents had waited for years for roads to be upgraded and rejected calls for ODM members to abandon the broad-based arrangement.
“We are all in this for two terms,” Wanga said. Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabir welcomed the Rabuor-Chiga project, saying residents had campaigned for the road for more than two decades.
“We have been following this road for 22 years, and now it is finally here with us,” he said.
Local leaders also called for improvements to health facilities in the area, citing accidents along the road and the need to upgrade a nearby hospital to a Level Four facility.
Ruto urged Kenyans to work together, saying development should benefit all parts of the country.
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