Over the years, the country has experienced several cases of stalled infrastructural projects, which have been blamed on poor planning by various government agencies.
Similarly, this is the case of a mega government office building that was launched in Ombo Hills, Migori County in 1990 by the late Internal Security Permanent Secretary, Hezekiah Oyugi, in the Moi administration.
At the time, the powerful administrator in President Daniel Moi’s regime intended that the building would be a legacy project as it would host the Southern Nyanza regional headquarters.
However, with the passing of Oyugi in 1992, the project has stalled for over 30 years with the contractor in charge of the milestone project pulling out.
The project has over the years attracted the government's attention as Members of Parliament lamented over the resources that were being wasted in the stalled project.
During a visit by legislators led by Limuru MP, Peter Mwathi, the MPs expressed their disappointment at the level of negligence the project had received.
In his address to the press, Mwathi, who chairs the National Assembly Administration and Security Committee, revealed that the project would cost taxpayers Ksh500 million to be revived and completed.
The security committee chair added that they had already budged for an allocation of Ksh300 million for the project and would seek to add more funds for the completion of the project.
“We are expecting money to be allocated for its completion from the supplementary budget. What had earlier been set aside was not enough and we will review the recommendations and allocate what can complete even the ground floor.
"It is shameful for a project of such a magnitude to be left to go to waste all these years despite the millions of shillings spent. We will ensure that the ground floor is completed as we seek to finish the entire building,” he stated.
Additionally, at the center of the mysterious building is a tussle between the Migori county government and the national government. Upon inception of the devolved units, the county administration had offered to take over the building and turn it into their offices. However, the two levels of government failed to agree on the logistics for completing the project.
“There have been several hurdles that have seen the project stall but with the handshake, we are upbeat that the project will finally come to fruition. That’s why we are keen on allocating funds to have the project constructed in phases,” Suna West legislator, Peter Masara, stated.
According to Tom Rachuonyo, a journalist who attended the launch of the project then, the project would have benefited the residents of Nyanza as government services would have been brought closer to them.
“The project was quite a milestone. The plan was to ensure that all government departments were located in a central place to improve the delivery of services. It was the first government storey building in the entire region and an architectural masterpiece,” Rachuonyo stated.
