Governor Wanga: Demolished factory was built on a flight path

A building constructed by the Homa Bay County Government to house an animal feeds factory was condemned as an aviation risk prompting its demolition, Governor Gladys Wanga has said.

Governor Wanga, while defending her administration’s decision to bring down the factory, yesterday said the building also had structural weaknesses that made it unfit for the intended modification into a Huduma Services centre for county residents, hence the ongoing demolition.

Construction of the animal feeds factory in Arujo Ward, Homa Bay Town Sub-County, was initiated in 2014 during the reign of her predecessor, Mr Cyprian Awiti.

“The factory was incompatible with the flight path and posed the risk of bird strikes...the area has since been re-planned under the Physical Planning Act,” said Homa Bay County Government Spokesperson Atieno Otieno in a statement.

The factory, which was to be built at a cost of Sh100 million, is about 300 metres from the Kabunde Airstrip.

Governor Wanga said the unfinished structure, which had deteriorated over the years, was a “ghost project” that had not consumed the total budgeted cost of Sh100 million. The county spokesperson said a total of Sh26 million had been spent in construction of the condemned structure.

The Homa Bay County boss said the animal feeds factory had stalled over failure to meet mandatory construction standards.

“The project did not receive the requisite approvals from agencies such as the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) due to its close proximity to Kabunde Airstrip,” said the statement.

The animal feeds project has now been moved to the County Aggregation and Industrial Park at Riwa Special Economic Zone.

“All the necessary approvals have been obtained including from the National Lands Commission (NLC) and Nema for the development of the county headquarters, including the repurposed Huduma Centre,” the county said.

The county spokesperson further said the projects that were left unfinished by Governor Awiti are continuously being repurposed or completed to ensure prudent use of public funds.

Roofing stage

At the time of its "repurposing”, the structure was at the roofing stage.

Two civil society activist had alleged that Homa Bay County taxpayers lost a colossal sum of money from the demolition.

Evance Oloo and Eugene Obisa accused Ms Wanga of irregularly demolishing the factory when her administration allegedly failed to seek public participation over the same.

The duo, who have sued the county government over the matter, stated that the demolition of the old project was done contrary to the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2015 (PPADA) and related regulations.

They asserted that the public deserves to see evidence from structural engineers, if at all the factory had been condemned. 

A hearing is coming up at the Lands and Environment Court on October 7, 2024, before Justice George Ong’ondo.

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