Elgeiyo Marakwet Governor meets Naiberi residents over poor roads and lack of lighting
Governor Wisley Rotich listens to Naiberi residents during Tuesday’s protest over poor roads and lack of street lighting in Uasin Gishu.Photi/ E.G.H [Kipmurkomen]/x
Elgeiyo Marakwet Governor Wisley Rotich on Tuesday engaged with demonstrators from Naiberi in Ainabkoi Sub-county, Uasin Gishu, after residents took to the streets to protest the deplorable condition of their access roads and the absence of security lighting.
Naiberi, located in Ainabkoi Sub-county of Uasin Gishu County, is a peri-urban settlement whose residents have long decried poor infrastructure. Protesters blocked sections of the road with stones and branches, chanting slogans demanding urgent repairs and the installation of street and security lights.
“We cannot move freely when it rains; our children cannot go to school, and our produce cannot reach the market,” said Mary Chepkorir, a small-scale farmer in Naiberi. “And after dark, we live in fear because there is no lighting—not even a torch is safe.”
“We have complained so many times to our ward office, but nothing changes,” added John Kiprop, a trader. “A car got stuck last week and couldn’t be recovered because the road was flooded—yet no one even came to inspect.”
Governor Rotich met the demonstrators at Naiberi and assured them he would escalate their grievances. He promised to pass their concerns directly to Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii for immediate attention.
Naiberi Sub-county, in Uasin Gishu, has in recent years featured prominently in public dissatisfaction around infrastructure deficits—particularly feeder roads and public lighting.Recent heavy rains have rendered many roads unusable, disrupting transport of agricultural produce. Security concerns have grown in tandem with infrastructural neglect, with communities citing darkness and remoteness as enabling crime.
The demonstrations also come against a backdrop of heightened public concern about local security arrangements in the Rift Valley. Earlier this year, a widely reported incident in Kesses Sub-county saw a man establish an unauthorised “police station,” underscoring the desperation of people who feel neglected by formal institutions and drawing national attention to gaps in community policing.
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