Key road for safari tourism promised money for paving – again

News that the parliamentary budget committee in Nairobi had allocated a billion Kenya shillings for the upgrade of the main road from Narok to the Masai Mara Game Reserve was met with some level of skepticism, going by the feedback received from Kenyan readers and contributors. The road is a key link in the Kenyan safari circuit but has been in bad shape for years if not decades, with minister after minister making promises of the road being paved only to leave office with nothing accomplished.

“I would like to know where all the money went. Too much money has been allocated in the past for that road, and there is nothing to show for. Now they talk of another billion of our tax money. This road is giving us as much headache as the one from Voi to Taveta does. Promises, promises, promises, and eating our money – that is all we have to show for. Who pays for the shocks [shockabsorbers] and broken springs? It is us, because our governments have all failed us in providing good roads,” ranted a regular source from Nairobi as he passed the news details on last evening.

The Masai Mara is part of the Serengeti/Masai Mara ecosystem, and the annual migration of the big herds of wildebeest and zebras, already underway this year, is one of Kenya’s main tourism attractions, normally bringing tens of thousands of tourists into the reserve, most of them by road. The flying option, however, has become more popular as a result of the poor state of the road, and while more expensive, also saves tourists valuable time, which they can spend on game drives instead of on bad roads giving them bad backs.

Several other comments aimed at the logistics of the funding, say that first the budget will have to be presented, debated, and approved, and only then can funds be allocated. This will clearly stretch the time frame and dash any hopes that visitors to the Masai Mara for this year’s migration will see an instant change in road conditions.