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Kenya

Probe called into stalled roads project

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 8 – Prime Minister Raila Odinga has called for a probe into the stalled construction of the Garissa-Modika-Nuno road, saying on Friday that the government could have lost Sh748 million allocated for fixing the road.

The Prime Minister, who inspected the road on Friday morning, directed the Minister for Roads Franklin Bett to investigate the ministry’s roads engineers and contractors to establish how that sum of money was used to construct only 9.6 km of the 20 km stretch.

Saying this was a glaring case of impropriety, Mr Odinga wondered how the contractor could use Sh70 million to fix one kilometre of road.

“I want investigations to be instituted immediately and a report brought to me in two weeks time,” he ordered.

Mr Odinga addressed a public rally at the Garissa Primary School grounds on his second day of an inspection tour of development projects in Garissa district.

He noted that the construction of 20 km road was part of a major project targeting more than 800 km for the Garissa-Wajir-Mandera road.

The PM further directed the ministry to avail Sh150 million for the construction of roads in Garissa town, saying the government would like to fast track development in North Eastern province to bring it to the same level of development as the rest of the country.

“We shall do affirmative action in this province to ensure the level of development in the province is in tandem with the rest of the country,” he emphasised.

The Prime Minister also spoke about the issuance of title deeds, saying it was unfortunate that the previous governments had stopped issuing the documents to wananchi in the area.

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He directed the Minister for Lands to start issuing title deeds so that land owners could use them as collateral to borrow money from banks and other financial institutions.

On the recently launched Kazi Kwa Vijana programme, Mr Odinga said that no contractor would be allowed to do any work under the programme as it was meant to benefit the youth.

At the same time, he called on parents in the area to take their children to school irrespective of their gender, saying all Kenyan youth must be given equal opportunities to exploit their potential.

The meeting was also addressed by Cabinet Ministers Mohammed Yusuf Haji, Mohammed Elmi and Otieno Kajwang, Assistant Ministers Aden Duale and Charles Keter and nominated MP Sofia Abdi Noor.

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