It seems to be a case of two steps forwards and one step back as far as Kenya's roads are concerned.

Just when the long-term planning of the nation's massive investment in roads upgrading was beginning to bear fruit, the recent torrential rains have brought a return to the kinds of potholes that were once a source of deep national shame.

Many have asked why our roads do not seem to withstand such extreme weather, while in Western Europe and North America - not to mention the Middle East and the Far East - roads subjected to much greater extremes of temperature or precipitation, seem to last for many years before beginning to show any signs of wear and tear.

The reason is that roads are built to specification; and if we could have the kind of mostly-concrete roads that are standard features of many modern highways in the rich nations, our roads might fare better.

It's in much the same way that the specifications for a multi-storey commercial building in the Central Business District, differs substantially from the specifications for a small domestic housing unit; but the "cost per square foot" of that commercial building will be many times more than that of the kind of house one of us might build in one of the peri-urban estates of Nairobi.

But on the other hand, if we did build such expensive roads, we would have less roads overall. And all over the country we would have farmers unable to get their produce to market, because of the poor rural road networks.

So the proposal by the Roads Minister, Franklin Bett, that heavy commercial trailers should be banned from our roads, and that the heavy cargo in which they specialise should be transported by rail, may just be the ideal solution for our circumstances.

Until we can build highways of reinforced concrete, we have no choice but to limit the tonnage carried on our roads. And though it may be inconvenient to long haul transporters to lose all their business to the railways, from the perspective of our national interests, this may be the best policy.

Quote of the day: "They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse." - Emily Dickinson, US poet born December 10, 1830