Former Mwingi Central MP Joe Mutambu has credited President William Ruto’s administration with reviving stalled projects and rolling out new development programmes across Ukambani, citing roads, markets, water projects, affordable housing and the long-delayed Enziu Bridge.
Speaking during an interview with Radio Generation on Thursday, Mutambu said the President’s development agenda was being felt in different parts of the region despite being a national programme. He pointed to projects in various constituencies, including road construction, modern markets, affordable housing, education programmes and initiatives supporting small-scale traders.
Mutambu said the projects showed that different parts of Ukambani were receiving government attention, although he cautioned that development alone may not determine how residents vote in the 2027 General Election.
The former legislator said some projects that had stalled after he left Parliament had resumed after he raised the issues with President Ruto. He cited a road project he had initiated while serving as Mwingi Central MP, saying work stopped after he left office because the contractor was not receiving payment.
He also singled out the construction of Enziu Bridge in Mwingi, a project he linked to past deaths in the area, including fatalities from a bus accident.
Mutambu said he began construction of the bridge while in Parliament using Constituency Development Fund resources, allocating between Sh5 million and Sh10 million each year. He said about Sh27 million had been spent on the initial pillars before he lost his parliamentary seat.
“When I was a member of parliament, I started building that bridge using CDF funds. Every year, I would allocate between Sh5 million and Sh10 million towards its construction. We began the project, but I was voted out before it was completed. By then, I had constructed about three pillars,” he said.
According to Mutambu, the Kenya Rural Roads Authority later received Sh500 million for the bridge but demolished the work already done and began construction again.
He said the project stalled once more after the funds were used up, forcing him to take up the matter with President Ruto in an effort to have the construction completed.
Mutambu further listed a modern market in Ukasi, another market in Mwingi Central, a water project and road construction in Mwingi North among the projects he said were being implemented under the current administration.
However, he warned that the projects should not automatically be viewed as a guarantee of political support for President Ruto in 2027.
“As a politician, if you ask me that question, whether this is enough to give him a vote, sometimes people don’t vote considering development.”
Mutambu said voters can make political decisions based on changing alliances and the positions taken by influential leaders in the region, rather than relying only on the development record of a government.