Airstrip road upgrade to boost tourism in Kakamega, says Ikana

Shinyalu MP Fred Ikana says tarmacking of the Kakamega Airstrip-Shinyalu-Chepsonoi road will greatly spur tourism in his constituency and the entire Kakamega county.

Ikana said yesterday that the upgrade of the road to bitumen standards would kick off early next year.

He said the road would be a game-changer as it links Kakamega town, his constituency all the way to Nandi County.

“The national government has tendered for the road and we expect its upgrade to kick off early next year. The road will boost our local economy, particularly through tourism courtesy of the Kakamega Forest,” he told a County public participation forum presided over by Kakamega governor Fernandes Barasa.

The leaders said they would promote environmental conservation in line with efforts put in place by the national government.

Barasa and Ikana rallied hundreds of residents to plant over 500,000 trees in the county on Monday.

The duo, alongside Culture and Heritage Principal Secretary Ummi Bashir, oversaw the planting of the seedlings in schools, medical facilities, prisons and other public spaces.

Bashir said she was impressed with the huge turnout that saw hundreds of the volunteers also being handed some seedlings to plant in their respective homes.

“The exercise has been a huge success after residents turned out in large numbers to volunteer their services. We planted over 100,000 seedlings in local prisons alone,” she added during the long-day exercise.

Barasa said yesterday that they would not only ensure that the County government met its target of planting five million trees this year but also take care of the seedlings until they were fully grown.

He said they had been planting tree seedlings over the years but many failed to mature. “We shall use our machinery on the ground, in collaboration with the national government, to make sure the seedlings mature. This will no longer be an event but a process,” he added.