Cracks appear in West Pokot’s bid to establish cement factory

Kavee Quarry in Ortum, West Pokot District. Cemtech acquired a 650-acre piece of land with a 99-year lease five years ago for the plant. PHOTO | FILE

News of a planned cement factory in West Pokot ten years ago aroused great excitement, with many residents looking forward to economic and social improvement. But that is as far as it went.

Almost a decade after its commissioning, the multi-billion shilling project is yet to take off, dimming the hopes of residents. Many blame political intolerance among local leaders and government bigshots for the state of affairs.

Further schism between the county governor and the senator is threatening to delay the project even more, with the governor backing the company that was awarded the contract while the senator is fronting for a new player.

Six months ago, a delegation led by Governor Simon Kachapin visited India for discussions with the investor, Sanghai Group.

Now the governor is accusing Senator John Lonyangapuo of failing to involve the county in any discussion on the new investor.

“We had constructive talks with the investor (Sanghai Group) and they are ready to start the job any time. It is wrong to short-change them after so many years,” said Mr Kachapin.

The governor said they had already signed a contract with Cemtech and would reject any new investor.

He said they would not hold negotiations with the new investor and urged the senator to stop interfering with the county’s investment plans.

Senator Lonyangapuo admitted that he had held talks with a new investor, adding that the first one failed to do the job.

“Sanghai Group has failed us. They have been coming here just to take photographs and to make friends with the county government,” he said.
Prof Lonyangapuo accused the county government of colluding with the investor to do nothing.

He said the new investor, Desk Group, had built more than six factories in Kenya: “Desk Group was already here by the time the governor was giving the job to Sanghai. The county government has failed to bring even one investor”.

He said community leaders would soon meet the new investor. “We want all locals to know about the changes. We want things to move forward, hence raise our living standards.”

The senator had indicated that the new investor would start work this month, but a spot check showed that this was yet to be done. The only work done at the site is levelling of the ground during the project’s commissioning years ago, and erection of a few houses by Cemtech Ltd, the company that won the tender for the Sh1.2 billion cement plant.

Cemtech also fenced off the area, with general manager Diptish Nandha saying they would begin implementing the project next year.

He attributed the delays to logistical challenges, adding that these had been sorted out. “We have solved the two major problems — quality of the limestone content and ground geometric technicality. These affected the location of the plant,” he said.

The company acquired a 650-acre piece of land with a 99-year lease five years ago for the plant.

The lease and the contract were approved by the now defunct local authority and reviewed and renewed by the county government.

The county is expected to benefit from a modern, environment-friendly factory, staff houses, schools, a medical centre, staff training centre and other amenities.

A 64MW power plant is also to be construed for factory use and injection of extra electricity to the national grid.

Mr Nandha said suppliers were redesigning the plant machinery to suit the county’s road network for ease of transport.

The cement factory is expected to employ more than 4,500 people directly and indirectly.

Cemtech was awarded a 99-year lease by the defunct local authority. The county government reviewed and approved the contract.