66-year-old Bomet widow repairs road where husband was killed in accident

By Martin Kosgei

A 66-year-old widow in Bomet County has caught the attention of many after she took on repairing potholes on a road where her husband was killed in a tragic accident.

For ten days now, Evelyn Tonui has been fixing potholes along the Tenwek Hospital road, her little contribution at making the roads a little better.

But Ms. Tonui, is not here because this is her job; she’s here to prevent other families from similar tragedy that befell her.

The widow lost her husband to a tragic road accident along that very road, and now, daily, she tries to do the little she can to prevent that from happening again to someone else.

“What pains my heart most is what happened to my husband. He was just riding around on his motorbike when he was hit by a lorry… so anytime I see people like that I want to help them so they do not face the same thing,” she said.

The road serves at least three thousand people but has been in a deplorable state for three years and many have lost their lives along the road even while rushing for medical treatment.

Often, as she takes a break, all she has to go on is some water and some boiled maize before she is back at it. Her selflessness has, however, not gone unnoticed by those who ply the route as many sometimes bring him soda to quench her thirst amidst the scorching heat.

When the President visited Tenwek Hospital last year, the road was only partially covered to save face and not much was done after he left.

The widow has now taken it upon herself to try patch up at least 20 potholes a day, instead of waiting for the county government to do its part.