Throughout history, roads have served purposes far greater than moving people and goods from one place to another. They have been instruments of statecraft, shaping how governments govern, deliver services, and maintain stability.
The Roman Empire understood this well. Its vast network of roads facilitated commerce across continents and enabled soldiers to move quickly across territories, strengthening the empire’s ability to administer and protect its domains. Centuries later, colonial administrations invested heavily in railways and roads not only to support trade, but also to extend administrative reach into distant regions. Today, modern states continue to invest in roads, airports, communications networks, and digital infrastructure because they recognize a simple truth: mobility creates reach, and reach strengthens governance.
This lesson remains relevant in modern-day Kenya
When discussions arise about infrastructure projects, attention often focuses on travel times, transport costs, and economic growth. These benefits are undoubtedly important. Yet infrastructure delivers another often-overlooked dividend: it strengthens the ability of public institutions to reach citizens and respond to their needs.
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The Barpello–Tot Highway offers a compelling example
Traversing one of Kenya’s most challenging terrains, the road is helping connect communities that have historically been separated from markets, services and opportunities by geography. While its economic benefits are significant, its broader impact may prove even more transformative.
Security begins with access. Before a security officer can respond to an incident, before an ambulance can reach a patient, before a teacher can report to a remote school or an agricultural officer can support farmers, there must first be a reliable route to get there. Geography should not determine whether citizens can access public services or whether government institutions can effectively serve them.
By improving connectivity in the Kerio Valley, the multibillion Barpello–Tot Highway Road project is helping reduce the barriers that distance and terrain have long imposed. Faster movement enables quicker emergency response, easier deployment of public services and stronger engagement between communities and government institutions. In this way, infrastructure becomes more than a development project; it becomes an enabler of security and inclusion.
This is an important lesson for nation-building. Lasting peace is rarely achieved through security interventions alone. It is sustained when citizens feel connected to opportunity, when public services are accessible and when institutions can consistently reach the people they serve. Roads play a vital role in creating these conditions.
Also Read: Kerio Valley Road Upgrade Strengthens Regional Security
The Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda recognizes that development is ultimately about expanding opportunity and improving quality of life. Achieving this vision requires more than policy; it requires the infrastructure that allows services, investment and opportunity to reach every corner of the country.
The significance of the Barpello–Tot Highway therefore lies not only in the vehicles that will travel on it, but in what it represents. By reducing isolation and strengthening connectivity, the road is helping bring citizens closer to markets, services and institutions. It demonstrates a principle that successful states have understood for centuries: when communities are connected, governance becomes stronger, opportunity expands and peace is easier to sustain.
This article was written by Dr. Sitati Olando, a Delivery and PPP Expert, and the Head of Government Delivery Unit in the Executive Office of the President, Kenya ([email protected], @GDUDelivery, www.delivery.go.ke)
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PHOTO | Handout
