Devolution CS Charles Keter clashed with a Chinese contractor in Kisumu on Monday, November 29, during an inspection exercise.
The CS had toured the lakeside city to inspect the progress of the construction of Afri-cities Convention Centre at Mamboleo.
Upon arrival, Keter had expected that the project would be 47 per cent complete ahead of the global event expected to take place in May 2022.
To his shock, he found that the project was only 12% complete. He then raised concerns over the pace under which the project was being undertaken.
Keter raised the alarm, noting that the project was already lagging behind by two months. He had been accompanied by Kisumu deputy governor Matthews Owili.
The contractor, a Chinese firm Jansen International Kenya, however, insisted that the project would be completed by March 1, 2022 as agreed upon.
It includes an auditorium, exhibition arena, break rooms and can handle about 4,000 delegates at the same time.
Construction of the facility kicked off in August 2021 with an estimated 6,000 delegates expected to grace the international event.
The facility also contains an outdoor Amphitheatre, VIP lounge, cultural centre, health centre, press rooms, picnic area and a children’s park.
“The construction of this Convention Centre will not only be a befitting legacy of the Africities Summit to the County and the Lake Region, but will attract international business meetings and business tourism, greatly increasing economic activity in the region,” announced Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o at the time.
When completed, the facility will be the second one of its kind in the country after the iconic Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC).
“This facility will not only serve the Lake region counties but with the revival of lake transport, we are looking to have our brothers from Uganda and Tanzania bring meetings here. We are committed to making the Afri-Cities conference slated for April 26-30, 2022 a success,” stated the then Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa during the launch.
