Nyandarua, Lamu & 3 Other Counties With No Headquarters Despite Millions Poured into Construction

Nyandarua County headquarters under construction.
Nyandarua County headquarters under construction.
Photo
Arcon Works

Senate on Tuesday, July 16, through Order Paper, legislators raised questions about why five counties remained without headquarters despite the national government disbursing millions of Shillings for construction. 

These counties were identified as Lamu, Nyandarua, Isiolo, Tana River and Tharaka Nithi.

The lack of headquarters was captured in a report on the standing committee on finance and budget on the status of implementation of projects funded by the conditional grant for the construction of county headquarters.

According to the Senate report, the 5 counties at the advent of devolution in 2013 did not inherit adequate facilities from the defunct local authorities that could accommodate the new county governments' administration.

An aerial view of senators seated during proceedings in the Senate of Kenya
An aerial view of senators seated during proceedings in the Senate of Kenya
Photo
Senate of Kenya

To rectify that, it was agreed in 2015 that the 5 counties would be issued a conditional grant by the national government for the construction of their respective headquarters.

“Each county was to receive Ksh121 million for three consecutive fiscal years - amounting to Ksh363 million,” the Senate report read in part. 

The Ksh363 million was supposed to cover 70 per cent of the construction costs with beneficiary counties footing the remaining bill. 

To date, the National Government has disbursed over Ksh837 million with the structures at various stages of construction. 

The county governors told the Senate that the buildings remained incomplete as the National Government should have disbursed Ksh1.9 billion by 2019. 

For Lamu County, the government remarked that construction would be completed by September 1, 2025.

“The contractor has been slow in project execution. Further, during tendering, the original scope for the civil and external works was reduced. However, these works would be reinstated as they are critical to the utilization of the building once complete,” the State Department of Housing and Public Works told the Senate. 

The September 1, 2025, deadline could be pushed further after reports emerged that the subcontractor for the mechanical works was yet to be contracted. 

For Isiolo, the completion date has been revised to August 30, 2025, due to the slow execution works of the contractor. 

Nyandarua County headquarters was found to be 55 per cent complete with works having started on March 2017 and expected to be completed in December 2025. 

“The project had encountered challenges with the contractor who terminated the contract. As a result, the project had been retendered and the process was yet to be concluded,” the government defended itself over the delay. 

On the other hand, Tana River residents will wait until September 2024, to have new county headquarters as the building is 55 per cent complete. 

“The project had encountered challenges with the contractor who terminated the contract. As a result, the project had been retendered and the process was yet to be concluded,” the decade-long delay was explained. 

Tharaka Nithi was expected to have a new county headquarters in May 2024 with the project dragging after additional cost of the project was occasioned by an extension in the size of the building by 7 meters in one wing, as well as an increase in slab thickness. 

“Further, the project incurred costs due to fluctuation of labour and materials, interest on delayed payments and extended preliminaries,” it was reported.

Lamu County headquarters under construction.
Lamu County headquarters under construction.
Photo
Construction Today
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