Our town is dying: Muhuru bay residents want major road upgraded to save town

The project is listed on the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) website and –titled: ‘Upgrading to Bitumen standard of MASARA-MUHURU BAY (B1) Road. The information was updated on website on May 14, 2026.

The road is a painfully rough stretch measuring about 20 kilometres from Masara town.

Motorists take a lot of physical punishment as they carefully navigate through rocks, sand and loose soil, open ditches and just about anything the road throws at them.

Masara, which is where the bad road begins its punishing reign, is a rich, stopover gold mining town sitting between Migori town and Muhuru Bay, on a full 43-kilometre straight-line road stretch.

Travelling from Masara to Muhuru is an excruciatingly painful experience because of the bad road – and it has been like this since before independence.

Residents say that their forefathers lived and died leaving the road in that bad state, without ever seeing tarmac. The same fate many fear awaits their children, and their children's children.

Still, Muhuru Bay is beautiful place known for its sweet watermelons, tomatoes and a wide range of fishes like omena, okoko, fulu, tilapia, mudfish (mumi) and Nile perch.

The town, which borders Tanzania on the Mara side, just on the bosom of lake Victoria, has a rich culture – with the historical Wuoth Ogik historical caves, sandy beaches and other beautiful sceneries.

From here you can clearly see the footsteps of the majestic islands of Migingo – all the three of them.

A lot of trade takes place between Kenyans and Tanzanians across the Muhuru border, but not much growth has taken place over the decades because of a nonexistent road network.

The town is lagging behind compared to her peers like Sori, Masara and most recently Nyakweri all of which have tarmac.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Muhuru Bay was booming, trade was good with tones of money in circulation, more than any surrounding towns, but not anymore.

Neighbouring towns like Sori have grown exponentially since 1998 following the upgrading of the Rodi-Sori Road into bitumen. Sori has never been the same.

Still, Muhuru Bay has remained warm and welcoming, with most of the workforce being visitors from other regions of the country.

But residents warn the town will die if nothing is done, fast.

For instance, traders often take longer than usual to get to the markets. Travellers take long hours on the rough road, often folded into these tiny vehicles known as 'olwenda', and it's quite uncomfortable and expensive experience. 

A good road, many believe, will open up the area to allow buses and shuttles to ply the route.

There is also a feeling among residents that the ongoing construction of the more than Ksh 200 million Muhuru Bay Pier, a major project managed by the Kenya Ports Authority and implemented by Kenya Shipyard Limited, may not achieve much if road network is not improved.

The pier once complete will have a large concrete jetty, with a cold storage/refrigeration facility for fish preservation, perimeter security, and an administrative block for customs and port operations.

“This pier is good, but could be useless without a road to act as a conduit linking the town to the outside world. It may not really improve our lives,” said Kennedy Ochieng, a resident of Muhuru Bay.

Many argue that it would be pointless for fishermen, and ships to dock at the pier with loaded with tons of fish and other goods and products when there exists no road network to get the goods to markets in Migori and beyond.

A few are blaming the delays in the upgrade of the road on politics.

“The past and recent road developments have been skewed towards one direction of our region, and this is very sad,” noted one resident.

“Road development should be done based need and existing economic activities. Muhuru bay is big on fish, tourism, agriculture and trade since it is a border town. It has a lot of potential,” he added.

The road has become a hot potato issue in the region – degenerating into a political agenda for 2027 elections like in the previous years.

The late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga had on numerous occasions highlighted the Muhuru bay road during his past visits to the region. Nothing came of it.

President William Ruto promised to deliver the road when he visited Muhuru bay to launch the pier several months ago.

Recently, during his visit to Migori this September, President Ruto spoke about the road, again, and demanded that the processes be expedited to deliver the road.

The promise has done very little to calm the residents. However, many are still optimistic Ruto will deliver on his promise after becoming the first ever President in the Kenyan history to visit the forgotten town.