Rasanga's Sh75m Siaya head office project nears completion

Construction of the Sh75 million Siaya County headquarters will have been completed by the end of July.

The property on a three-acre piece of land is among Governor Cornel Rasanga's legacy projects and was launched 18 months ago to address the challenge of inadequate office space.

Governor Rasanga, Deputy Governor James Okumbe and their staff have been operating from an old office where mayors in the old system of administration were based.

Siaya’s minister for governance and administration and the county secretary have also been operating from that location.

About 200 county staff, among them all the chief officers and department directors, have been working in a makeshift office, said Governance minister Dismas Wakla.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Abeland Enterprises Limited was handed the project in January 2019 and was expected to deliver in 10 months but this was not the case, hence a final extension by the county to July 31.

On Thursday, Mr Wakla told the Nation that the project was 99 per cent complete and would be ready by the end of the month.

“The contractor is doing the finishing work, which includes painting. Tiling and fixing of windows have been completed," he said.

"We expect service delivery to be enhanced with completion of the project. Members of the public who require administrative services will now be served under one roof," he added.

A spotcheck found workers doing landscaping.

TRANSPARENCY

County Secretary Joseph Ogutu said the space is partitioned using glass as part of efforts to enhance transparency.

"We want open offices that will enhance accountability and transparency" he said.

The governor, deputy governor and chief of staff will occupy the second floor of the three-storey building.

The governor's boardroom, which is on the same floor, has a capacity for 50 people.

"The county secretary, the county executive in charge of governance, the county attorney and other senior administrators will occupy the first floor. There will be a lobby for members of the public to be attended to before being guided to specific offices," said Mr Wakla.

Mr Wakla noted that the county government used a “conservative figure” for the project because it needed to free up resources for other developments.

"The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) capped the project for all counties at Sh500 million but we needed to free up resources for other projects that would benefit the people more," he said.