After floodwaters destroyed a portion of the road in the Gamba area, transport services along the Lamu Garsen road were rendered impossible for the second day in a row. 

Hundreds of passengers are now compelled to spend more money on boat services to cross the damaged section of the road. 

The Ministry of Transport has been criticized by Lamu Governor Issa Timamy for its inaction in resolving the issue of the road network being cut off by floodwaters from the upstream River Tana during every flooding season.

Following the road's closure, which led into and out of Lamu on Friday, videos from the Gamba area on the Lamu Garsen road on Sunday morning showed a patient being transferred into one of the waiting boats. 


Over the past 48 hours, the Tana River's waters have flooded a portion of the road and destroyed some of it, causing drivers to look for other ways to get to the nearby areas.

"The road has been cut off, there's no food whatsoever, it's difficult now because life has become hard." John Kimwa, a resident of Lamu, expressed his distress. 

"The fare for one boat used to be fifteen thousand, but yesterday it reached three hundred thousand, and according to how the water is rising, it seems the prices will continue to rise," added Paul Kimani, another resident of Lamu.

Issa Timamy, Lamu's Governor, expressed his deep frustration with the situation. "I wrote a letter to the PS of Roads, and copied the Minister of Roads since April around the 22nd, but I hope steps will be taken and the relevant authority will take necessary actions to swiftly repair this road."

"When the road was first cut off, they made makeshift paths, but now that the water has risen, it's a problem, the road is impassable at the moment," Mohamed Omar stated, underlining the pressing nature of the situation.


Last week, the national assembly's transport and infrastructure committee revealed that, in order to guarantee funding allocations for repairing damaged roads and bridges, the government was conducting an assessment of all the roads devastated by floods.