Hundreds of motorists using the Nairobi-Nakuru highway were stranded for hours after the road was closed to allow the competing rally cars drive from Naivasha to Sosyambu. The closure at the Naivasha-Kinangop junction saw the jam stretch for over 20kms on the Nairobi side as the motorists sought alternative routes to Nakuru.
Emotions ran him among the stranded motorists as police stood their ground noting that no one would be allowed to use the section of the road. However, traders along the section of the road were left smiling all the way to the bank as the stranded motorists sought meals and other essential services from them.
On Monday, the government gazetted several roads in the country that would be closed down this week to give the drivers competing in WRC the right of way. According to one of the affected passengers Joel Wafula, the closure of the road had inconvenienced them as they headed to Kakamega. He noted that many of them would be caught in the by the 7pm curfew that has been slapped on several counties in Western Kenya.
“The rally is good but the organisers should consider other motorists who have nothing to do with this exercise,” he said. Another driver Daniel Kimani wondered why the road was still closed by 11am yet the rally cars were already in Soysambu. “This event has created business for some people and ended up messing the lives of hundreds of others and this is unfair,” he said.
On her part, Rachel Wamuyu said that she was headed to Nakuru for a critical appointment but the closure of the road had shattered her plans. “The closure of the road will cost many people and businesses dearly and its unfair to concentrate on the rally at the expense of others,” he said. Speaking in phone, Naivasha OCPD Samuel Waweru defended the move adding that it had been gazetted earlier so as to give the motorists time to plan and reroute.