Why poor planning is the bane of Voi town in spite of its rapid expansion

The area had initially been earmarked to be a matatu park but is now being used by buses, lorries, bodabodas, taxis and pushcarts. The lower part of the bus park is taken up by kiosks which are constructed right under power lines.

What was to be a bus park was later on taken over by a private developer before it changed hands to become the site of the ACK Cathedral.

The lorry park was later moved to Maungu township after the area earmarked for the same was grabbed while the slaughter house at Kariokor was deemed a health hazard as it was located in a residential area and was subsequently moved to Ndara area where it still faces challenges especially availability of water.

The plot that was Initially allocated for a Social Hall has now been turned into an open air market. An alternative site for this social amenity has so far not been identified.

After the plot meant for a public toilet in the Voi CBD was reportedly grabbed by a private developer, the confusion heightened.

As such in 2007 the public health department sued the then Voi Municipal Council to compel the local authority to put up a public toilet at the CBD and also relocate the abattoir at Kariokor to a safer location as it was deemed a public health hazard.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that initial blueprints that were designed to guide the planning and expansion of Voi town have largely been ignored or overtaken by time and it’s high time the county designs new master plans to put a check on the runaway expansion.

The case of solid and liquid waste management is another thorn in the flesh. The Voi CBD does not have a proper sewerage plan and it’s not uncommon to find the filth flowing freely in the town.

This is despite the fact that in 2005 the World Bank had undertaken a Sh500 million feasibility study on sewage management in Voi town and its environs through the then Ministry of Local Government(MOLG).

The feasibility study has never been actualized and planners estimate that the cost could have risen threefold.

Voi town owes its history to the construction of the Kenya-Uganda railway line at the turn of the twentieth century, when small businesses mainly owned by Indian railway builders, began to come up.

The name derives from chief Kivoi Mwendwa, a long distance trader and slave dealer who introduced early missionaries to the Kenyan hinterland.

Chief Kivoi’s caravan used to make a stopover in Voi where they exchanged dry bush meat (midanda) and honey with grains from the locals.. Eventually the locals began referring to the town as “Kwa Kiwoi” …et