Residents of Mulikanji village in Butere Constituency are urging the government to repair a bridge that collapsed a month ago. The collapse has disrupted learning, access to health services, and trade.
The bridge, which connected Mulikanji to Musango village in Mumias West Constituency, fell in August during the school holiday. Alice Akungwi, a local resident, reported that five school children who were crossing the bridge at the time were fortunate to have survived. “We would be mourning five funerals in this village if the children did not know how to swim,” she said.
Akungwi noted that women who sell vegetables and other farm produce at Imanga market now face additional costs.
“The boat operators charge us Sh100 per person, per trip, which is eating into our profits,” she explained. She added that some children from Musango Primary and Secondary Schools, whose parents cannot afford the daily boat charges, have been forced to stay home since schools reopened. Some students have had to stay with relatives in Mumias East to continue their education.
Akungwi also highlighted a cultural issue: women who have given birth to twins cannot use boats due to Luhya traditions that believe this would result in the death of the twin children.
Silas Mapesa expressed concern that the bridge’s collapse has exacerbated economic hardships. “Women who rely on menial jobs are going hungry because they cannot cross the river to find work,” he said. “We are begging the government to intervene and repair the bridge.”
Access to medical services has also become challenging, as the only dispensary serving the community is across the river. “Sometimes a patient needs urgent attention, but there is no one to operate the boat. This makes it difficult to assist such patients because you can’t move them through the waters,” Mapesa added.
Efforts to contact MP Tindi Mwale for comments were unsuccessful by the time of going to press.
