Waziri Mayai Wa Maradhi
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 28, 2026
- 409
- 98
There is a road passing by my home that connects Busia and Bungoma counties, from Musikoma to Mugatsi Road. In the late 1990s, the road was earmarked for tarmacking when Chris Okemo, our MP, was the Minister for Finance.
It was never tarmacked. Later, the road was gazetted as having been tarmacked. It remained untarmacked until 2018. We were told that money meant for initial tarmacking had been embezzled. Allegedly, three Luhyas, among them Jacob Juma and Cyrus Jirongo, were involved in the scandal.
For years, we blamed successive governments for marginalising Western Kenya. And to be fair, there was, and still is, some truth to that.
But as I grow older, I have come to appreciate that not every failure in Western Kenya was caused by people sitting in Nairobi.
Sometimes, our own leaders were the reason we remained underdeveloped.
It was never tarmacked. Later, the road was gazetted as having been tarmacked. It remained untarmacked until 2018. We were told that money meant for initial tarmacking had been embezzled. Allegedly, three Luhyas, among them Jacob Juma and Cyrus Jirongo, were involved in the scandal.
For years, we blamed successive governments for marginalising Western Kenya. And to be fair, there was, and still is, some truth to that.
But as I grow older, I have come to appreciate that not every failure in Western Kenya was caused by people sitting in Nairobi.
Sometimes, our own leaders were the reason we remained underdeveloped.