Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika.
Taxpayers risk losing more than Sh500 million in projects that have either stalled or are lying idle in Nakuru County.
Most of the multi-million shillings projects that were initiated by the current and previous county administrations have been abandoned by contractors. The ones that are complete are not in use.
The Nation has established that most of the projects that are abandoned were started without proper public participation.
A case in point is a multi-million shilling social hall built inside Kinungi Police Station in Naivasha East Ward. The project was initiated by former Governor Lee Kinyanjui's administration.
Governor Susan Kihika's administration said the social hall should not have been built inside a police station. Furthermore, due to poor public participation the project was built on a quarter of an acre instead of at least three acres.
Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika and her deputy David Kones.
The other project is the Sh350 million Karai fish market in Naivasha and several market projects in the county that are complete but have not been occupied.
The fish market along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway is now an eyesore, after more than Sh100 million was pumped into the project that has stalled.
Public participation
Residents say there was no adequate public participation before the construction of the multi-million shilling project started.
The latest report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu covering the financial year 2023/2024 made shocking revelations of stalled and incomplete projects in the county.
The report showed that during the period under review, 43 projects with a total contract price of at least Sh300 million had stalled with no explanations from the county government.
"The projects stalled, but the county government has not given the way forward," stated Ms Gathungu, adding that 17 projects with a total contract cost of Sh 66.2 million are incomplete.
"The county government did not provide any documentary evidence to support the delays,"noted the Auditor-General.
The audit further revealed that 565 projects started during previous accounting years with a total contract price of Sh7,497,850,588, were still underway. The audit states that the projects were already way past their completion dates.
At Kiratina Market in Menengai Ward, Nakuru East Sh7.5 million sheds remain unused because they were done shoddily and lack social amenities.
People's Power Watch lobby group chairman Jesse Karanja said there was no proper public participation before most of the projects were initiated.
"Most of the projects were initiated without consulting residents. As a result, they have become white elephant projects,” Mr Karanja said.
At the heart of Nakuru City, market stalls worth more than Sh8 million constructed for traders also remain idle and unused.
In fact, bushes have grown around the market stalls located next to the Nakuru North cemetery.
Vandals have since stolen iron sheets that were used to construct the market stalls, making them desolate.
Inscriptions: ‘Funded by the Nakuru County Government; under the leadership of Governor Lee Kinyanjui’ remains clear and pronounced on the stalls.
Other projects include: Early Childhood Development centres and health facilities in various parts of the county including Kuresoi North,Kuresoi South,Rongai , Bahati ,Gilgil among other places.
At the Nakuru Level Five Hospital also lies an incomplete and abandoned trauma centre.
A trauma centre is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds.
The facility was to accommodate accident victims, especially on the Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret highway.
But it stalled after at least Sh70 million had been pumped into the project.
A two-storey structure, within the Nakuru Level Five Hospital, that remains incomplete, is all that stands amid tall grass.
Records the Nation is in possession of indicate that at the time it stalled, at least Sh 70 million had been pumped into the project.
The trauma centre, which was to cost at least Sh1 billion, stalled despite the fact that Sh70 million had already been pumped into the project.
EMatara@ke.nationmedia.com
