NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 29 – Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has pointed to ongoing road works in Homa Bay as evidence of the Government’s investment in infrastructure in the region, weeks after the condition of roads in Suba North became a major political talking point.
Mbadi said the road at the recently popularised “Yemen” junction was now taking shape, following widespread public attention to its poor condition during the Linda Mwananchi movement’s tour of Homa Bay earlier this month.
“The recently trended ‘Yemen’ junction coming up nicely,” Mbadi said in a post highlighting the ongoing works.
The road became a subject of national debate on August 16 when Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and the Linda Mwananchi caravan were forced to use dusty alternative routes during their tour of Homa Bay after sections of the main roads were blocked.
Images and videos of the convoy navigating the rough roads subsequently circulated widely online, prompting the “Homa Bay looks like Yemen” tag and a political debate over the state of infrastructure in the county.
The issue quickly evolved into a political contest, with Sifuna using the state of the roads to criticise the Government over what he described as years of neglect, while local leaders defended the region and demanded faster development.
Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo rejected attempts to dismiss the roads used by the Linda Mwananchi team as merely feeder roads, saying many important routes in Suba North and Suba South remain in poor condition.
Governor Gladys Wanga, while responding to the criticism, said Homa Bay had historically suffered marginalisation but argued that development was now being accelerated under the broad-based government arrangement between President William Ruto’s administration and the Orange Democratic Movement. She said the road that attracted the “Yemen” comparison falls under the Lake Victoria Ring Road project and is earmarked for tarmacking.
Mbadi’s latest update appears aimed at demonstrating that the criticism has not gone unanswered, with the Treasury CS highlighting visible progress at the junction that became one of the defining images of the political tour.
Beyond the road, Mbadi said the Government was also developing a modern market at Kiabuya Trading Centre under the Economic Stimulus Programme.
“Besides the road tarmacking, President William Ruto’s administration has gifted Kiabuya Trading Centre with a modern ESP Market whose construction is currently underway,” he said.
The projects are likely to become part of the political conversation in Homa Bay, where development and the condition of roads have increasingly featured in competing narratives between the Government and opposition-aligned leaders.
The road controversy was particularly significant because it emerged during a political caravan seeking to build grassroots support ahead of the 2027 General Election. The Linda Mwananchi team toured several parts of Homa Bay on August 16, with Sifuna’s convoy encountering road blockades and using alternative routes to reach rally venues.
