The modern Thika Road in Nairobi has been described as one of the African infrastructural masterpieces, so much so that Kenyans christened it the 'Thika SuperHighway'.
Undoubtedly, it is one of the largest projects in modern Kenya even though it was constructed in a period of only three years.
Many Kenyans enjoy riding along the smooth road with multiple lanes, but little is known of the genesis of the Superhighway and some of the difficult decisions that had to be made to ensure successful completion of the project.
The project was initially formulated in the early 1990s but the designs had been gathering dust in government offices until the NARC government took over in 2002.
The NARC government, led by President Mwai Kibaki started taking the project seriously by sourcing for funds and improving on the designs.
As fate would have it, Raila Odinga was the Minister for Roads and Public Works and most of the technical groundwork fell under him - and he took on his duties with his characteristic enthusiasm.
Kibaki delegated the 'dirty work' to Odinga and this included making some of the most difficult government decisions that were at the time being opposed by the high and mighty, especially business people.
Among them was ordering the destruction of various high-end commercial and residential buildings said to have been erected along road reserves and could have stood in the way of the Sh31 Billion project.
One of such which surprised many and left others in tears was the demolition of Nakumatt Thika Road, a mega supermarket located at the then Roysambu roundabout and an adjacent Kenol Petrol Station among other expensive business premises.
In an interview with a Ugandan media house, Odinga narrated how he was left to handle the hard decisions of bringing down such structures and having to battle condemnation and accusations of targeting a certain community.
He added that he persevered hundreds of people flocking his office to try and prevent their buildings from being brought down but he stood his ground to deliver the most modern road in Kenya.
At the same time, he credited himself as having played the biggest role in bringing home the Superhighway, complaining of how people were wrongly attributing the same to former President Mwai Kibaki.
“Most of them don't want to give me credit and say that it's Kibaki who is the father of modern roads in Kenya. But i don't mind. I am happy I managed to do the right thing,” he stated.
The Superhighway was constructed by two Chinese contractors between 2009 and 2012 with joint funding from Kenyan government and the African Development Bank.
