Property developers rush to invest in Turkana ahead of highway upgrade

Every rainy season, Turkana residents count bodies swept by floods from Mt.Moroto in northern Uganda. Last month, three refugees heading to Kakuma camp died after a car they were travelling in was swept by floods from Nakoyo River.

“That afternoon floods paralysed transport services between the refugee camp and Kakuma town for over three hours. But the man who was driving a Probox vehicle decided to cross the low bridge along Lodwar-Lokichoggio,’’ says Samuel Osodo, a divisional officer.

In Lodwar, three people escaped death after two lorries transporting construction materials and food items to Kakuma town plunged into the flooded River Kawalase.

The first lorry was swept and half-way buried in the river bed. In another incident, two people died at River Kawalase.

Turkana residents blame lack of a bridge and good roads to move goods and people. But this is expected to change with the upgrade of the 960km Eldoret-Juba road set to start in a few months time.

The 601km highway from Lesseru to Nadapal/Nakodok is also part of the project.

The 960km Eldoret-Juba road linking Kenya and South Sudan was once an idle and dry land, but the upgrade plans have stirred up activity and attracted investors setting up satellite colleges, petrol stations, bars, retail shops and modern residential housing in places like Kainuk, Lokichar, Lodwar, and Kakuma.

Investors are upbeat that the development will open up the area to business.

Mount Kenya University has a campus about four kilometres from Lodwar town and transports students to and from the campus for classes.

Elim Lokapel, the campus director, says the university recently started offering a Bachelor of Science course in petroleum exploration and production, targeting students from as far as South Sudan eyeing the oil sector.

‘‘Once the road is complete, there will be an increase in the number of foreign students seeking higher education in Kenya,’’ he says.

Eldoret Technical Training Institute has also set up a campus along the Lodwar highway. Casper Shiyeyi, the deputy principal says the institution will train youth on start-up skills.

Cecilia Asinyen Ngitit, the managing director of Ceamo Prestige Lodge on the Lodwar-Lokichar highway offers accommodation from Sh6,500 to Sh10,000.

“When building the hotel, I was forced sometimes to use air to transport fragile building materials like glasses from Lodwar,” says Ms Ngitit.
She now plans to expand the lodge in anticipation of growing business.

Stegra Hotel is another business gearing up to gain from the upgraded road.

Jacob Mwangi, the Stegra Hotel manager, says his hotel which along the highway will record high numbers of first-time visitors to Turkana, which is now on the oil exploration global map.

The oil-rich Turkana which has for years been on the map of marginalisation and famine relief support, is expected to get a new image of socioeconomic development.

READ: Oil discovery fuels economic changes in Turkana towns

The turning point came with the discovery of oil in 2012 and with the promise for paved roads, power stations and water treatment plants.

Last June, Deputy President William Ruto announced the ambitious plan by Kenya to upgrade the highway to boost trade and investment.

The government, he said, was sourcing for funds to reconstruct the road that is set to open trade routes in the region.

A Joint-Inter-Ministerial Committee (JIMC) consisting of Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Kenya and Ministry of Transport, Roads and Bridges of South Sudan has been set up to co-ordinate the implementation of a six-year project.

The road set to link the Kenya and South Sudan will facilitate cross-border trade, reduce transportation costs and aid movement of emergency relief supplies and humanitarian efforts in the region faced by recurrent drought, floods and banditry.

Eastern Africa Regional Transport, Trade and Development Facilitation Project, a World Bank credit facility of Sh50 billion dollars ($500 million) has already been signed to fund the reconstruction after it was officially announced in Lodwar.

The project is estimated to cost about Sh100 billion ($1.0 billion) with government looking to secure funds from German Development Bank (KfW), the European Union, European Investment Bank (EIB) and African Development Bank (AfDB).

A border post will be developed at Nadapal and linked to Kenya Revenue Authority management system.

Prime land

Mr Ruto said traders relying on the road have over the years incurred huge losses that include wear and tear while perishable produce go bad due to long distances and potholes that hinder smooth movement.

The poor state of the road has pushed up the cost of living in Turkana and West Pokot counties as well as neighbouring South Sudan with prices of essentials like cereals, drinks, building materials tripling.

For instance, 25 tonnes of ballast goes for Sh35,000 in Kitale, but it is transported to construction sites in Turkana for Sh120,000 by road.

Land owners along the vital road are also reaping big by selling the now prime plots. About 95 per cent of land in Turkana is community-owned and the high demand for land is driving the community to sub-divide and acquire allotment letters to woo buyers.

Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok has stopped the sale of land along the stretch between Lodwar and Lokichar following a rise in land grabbing cases.

The National Land Commission (NLC) was also forced to intervene by auditing public land from November.

In 2009, the most expensive plot along the highway was between Sh50,000 and Sh80,000, but now a prime plot measuring 50 by 50 metres along the Lodwar-Lokichar road goes for more than Sh600,000.

Muhammad Swazuri, the chairman of the NLC, during a fault-finding tour of the region, said high prices were the root cause of land grabbing and introduction of squatters in Turkana.

He said land near Lodwar Airstrip, Lodwar police headquarters and Kenyatta House Lodwar that served as a detention camp for the Kapenguria Six, including founding president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, has been grabbed.

In Lodwar Mixed Primary School where President Uhuru Kenyatta’s elder sister Kristina Pratt Kenyatta got her early education, half of the school, according to the NLC, has been grabbed.

Dr Swazuri said idle public land has been the easy target in Lodwar. The Kenya Airports Authority land is now holding squatters.

Property developers pointed out that there has been an increase in demand, pushing land prices up, especially along the highway.

The increased demand for housing to accommodate county government staff and officials of non-governmental organisations based in Lodwar, but operate from as far as South Sudan are some of the factors that have contributed to the property boom.

Also, the political goodwill among pastoral communities in Kenya and South Sudan for the past eight months has also attracted investors to the once sleepy towns along the Eldoret-Juba highway.

Traders such as Dickson Loree who operates between Kitale and Kakuma and who has been selling cereals for a decade now is banking on the upgraded road to end banditry.

He expanded his business to Kainuk and Lokichar last June after peace was realised along the border. The stretch between Ortum in West Pokot and Lokichar in Turkana is most insecure part where many people have been killed.

Sylvester Otieno, a trader in Lodwar is healing wounds of two attacks at Lami Nyeusi near Kainuk.

Turkana South MP James Lomenen says that the upgrading of the Kitale-Lodwar highway will boost security in cattle rustling-prone areas in the North Rift and transform the region into industrial hub.

The Kenya National Highways Authority, (KeNHA) called bids for the upgrading of the road in December which will involve expansion, construction of bridges, culverts and drainage infrastructure. The bids close on February 24.