Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga has hit back at Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna after his pointed remarks on the dusty roads encountered by the Linda Mwananchi team during its tour of the county, saying the state of the roads tells a much older story of neglect, not a passing political embarrassment.
Sifuna, who led the Linda Mwananchi team through a string of rallies in Homa Bay on Sunday, took a swipe at the condition of some roads after the convoy was forced off the highway and onto rough bypasses to reach some of the venues. At several points, the team also encountered road blockades and stretches of roads littered with stones amid heightened tension as they moved through the county.
Sharing a photograph of himself coated in dust while holding the Kenyan flag, Sifuna wrote: “Bwana walisema huku Homa Bay ndio kuna shiny things kumbe ni ukora tu. Dust is constant.”
The post quickly set off a storm online, with Kenyans turning it into a meme fest and reopening the long-running debate over Homa Bay’s infrastructure gaps.
But Wanga said the dust on the ground should be read against the county’s long history of exclusion and underinvestment. In a statement titled “Beyond the Dust: Homa Bay’s Long Road from Marginalisation to Transformation,” the governor said the stretch of road that has now become the centre of attention represents years of waiting by residents who have lived with poor infrastructure for far too long.
“The dust on the Mbita–Sindo–Kiabuya–Sori corridor tells a story. But it is not the story of a people who have failed. It is the story of a region that has waited far too long for the infrastructure required to unlock its potential,” Wanga said.
She said the poor condition of the roads is no laughing matter for those who depend on them daily, noting that they affect access to markets, public services, business costs and the pace of development across the county.
“For the people who live along these roads, however, their condition is no joke; it is a daily reality that shapes access to markets and services, the cost of doing business, and the pace at which communities can develop,” she said.
Wanga traced the infrastructure gap to successive governments since independence, saying Homa Bay has carried the burden of underdevelopment through the administrations of Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel arap Moi, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta.
She singled out the Mbita road as a vivid example of the county’s long wait, saying the 74-kilometre stretch was first awarded in 2016 under the Uhuru Kenyatta administration but stalled after funding dried up, with only seven kilometres completed.
Wanga believes the dust seen in her county serves both as a symbol of frustration and a reminder of the infrastructure deficit that still shadows large parts of the region.
