Mega projects in counties come a cropper, one excuse after another

The launch of grand projects by county governments since 2013 has been marked with pomp and colour.

The mega projects have included investments in lake transport, agriculture value addition, housing development and hospitals upgrade.

More than two years later, the grand projects worth billions of shillings, many signed with foreign investors, appear to have run out of steam. Little is being said of them now.

As the country comes to terms with wastage and corruption in the counties — including the 10 wheelbarrows the Bungoma county bought for a princely Sh109,000 each — the Sunday Nation looks back at some of the counties’ grand projects. The question lingers: will they be completed or simply remain on paper?

NAIROBI

It has been a long wait for the commuter buses that Governor Evans Kidero promised. The buses were to help alleviate traffic jam within the capital city and reduce the time Nairobians take to travel to their places of work. 

The county had entered into a deal for the buses with Chinese company Foton East Africa to supply 200 commuter buses, according to then county executive for roads and transport Evans Ondieki.

That was early last year. To date, not a single bus has been delivered. The deal has also been the subject of investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

MACHAKOS

Governor Alfred Mutua, praised for his vision for the county, has not been left behind.

In 2013, Dr Mutua announced plans to build a megacity with a proposed Sh1.5 trillion investment on 2,200 acres, including a Formula One track.

“It will be the only Formula One track in the whole of Africa — racing on the plains where lions used to roam,” he said, adding that the new city would be fully functional in 18 months with its skyline dotted with amazing buildings within four years.

Since the ambitious project was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in November 2013, not much has been heard about it.

But the Machakos People’s Park is said to be part of the bigger plan.

NYERI

The construction of a Sh600 million fresh produce market in Chaka, Kieni East, has not started, eight months after it was supposed to start. 

Governor Nderitu Gachagua had announced that it would kick off last December.

In an interview with Sunday Nation, he acknowledged the delay but said the county government is currently in consultation with the national government on the project.

“We are trying to make up for lost time. The project is still on. The tender documents for the market are ready and we are just waiting to advertise,” he said.

In the same county, Nyeri town residents are yet to fully benefit from a project meant to provide free Wi-fi at a public park within Nyeri town, named after humourist Wahome Mutahi (Whispers). A county government official, who spoke in confidence, blamed it on “a technical problem”.

KISUMU

The county planned Sh400 billion lake transport by Canadian ship builders Continental Maritime is yet to be achieved.

The county government signed an initiation of partnership agreement with the shippers in October 2013.

Under the deal, Kisumu County was to provide the necessary infrastructure for accessing the port and interconnecting piers in other counties bordering Lake Victoria.

The investor was to bring in 22 ferries that would ply the ports of Lake Victoria that have been idle for many years. But nearly two years later, nothing has been heard of the project.

Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma told Sunday Nation: “We have made tremendous progress in our discussions with the national government on revival of Kisumu Port.

The President has also given us word on his commitment to revitalising transport within the East Africa Community member states. We are also engaging individual businessmen with interests of introducing ferries to the lake,” he said.

At the moment, Lake Victoria piers are managed by Kenya Railways Corporation, working with Kenya Ports Authority.

HOMA BAY

A joint venture of Sh560 billion between the county government and Good Earth Power, said to be an international consortium based in Oman with interests in construction, energy, communications and land development, has no signs of being implemented any time soon.

The deal was signed in Nairobi in May 2013. The project was to come up with green energy power plants, roads, water treatment plants, waste management and telecommunication systems. Besides, there was a separate Sh3.3 billion road construction plan.

The county was to contribute 100 hectares of land which was obtained at Riwa in Karachuonyo constituency. Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti said the community, which had ceded the land, later turned its back on the deal, thus frustrating the project’s smooth implementation.

But other reports claim that the investor went underground soon after the much publicised launch.

Mr Awiti, however, said his administration had committed available funds to drive growth in more urgent sectors of development in the county as they wait for mega projects.

SIAYA

In 2014, the county government said it had bought seven tractors at Sh45.3 million to help farmers plough their land. The seven tractors were to be supplemented by 17 others the county hired from the Agricultural Development Corporation. But since then, some residents complain that the project has become a white elephant.

Mr Kevin Dooso, the administrator of the Siaya County Forum lobby group, said the project has failed and that farmers have continued to pay for the services.

But the chief officer for agriculture in the county, Mr Jackton Ondiko, defended the project. “The tractors are being used for land preparation and transport. During the 2014 long rains, a total of 1,840 acres were ploughed by the seven tractors that were bought by the county government,” Mr Ondiko told Sunday Nation.

In the same county, Governor Cornel Rasanga had entered into a deal in 2013 with unnamed US investors who were to pump in Sh50 billion towards upgrading of the county’s main hospital and also to help set up a drug manufacturing plant.

Not much has been heard of the project since then.

BARINGO

The county signed a Sh6 billion mining deal Baringo with a Chinese company in May 2014. To date, nothing has been heard of it.

As the county governors get to their mid-term, it remains to be seen if the mega projects will become a reality.

Reported by Moses Odhiambo, Manase Otsialo, Martin Mwaura, James Ngunjiri and Walter Menya