This move comes in response to government critics who lamented stalled projects across the country
The government through the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary (OPCS), in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior and National Administration (MINA), will from Tuesday, September 10 to Saturday, September 14 embark on verification and validation of High Impact selected National Government Projects and Programmes Countrywide.
This move comes in response to government critics who lamented stalled projects across the country and came to the nationwide limelight through efforts by lawyer and activist, Morara Kebaso, in his mission to sensitize Kenyans to the truth.
“OPCS through the National Government Coordination Secretariat (NGCS), with the overarching mandate of coordination of National Government Operations, is working with National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in MINA to Coordinate this exercise as a Whole of Government Approach. They start the exercise with two out of the eight Administrative Regions in the country,” the office announced in a statement to newsrooms.
The exercise will be conducted in the 1st and 2nd Quarter of this Financial Year and will start off in Eastern and Coast Regions before being cascaded to North Eastern, Nairobi, Central, Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western regions.
Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi at the Haiti Concert and Cultural Festival at Uhuru Gardens on September 8, 2024. /MUSALIA MUDAVADI
The two offices explained that the purpose of the exercise is to validate the status of the selected High Impact Projects and Programmes for the Financial Year 2023/2024, taking into consideration the information provided by the Ministries Departments and State Agencies (MDAs).
“The OPCS/MINA verification teams, who include the MDAs Focal Persons will document issues and identify bottlenecks for better coordination of service delivery,” added the statement.
The projects set to be subjected to inspection include:
- Completion of Kenya Leather Industrial Park (Kenanie Leather Industrial Park) in Machakos County.
- Expansion of acreage under cotton production from 26,000 acres to 200,000 acres and avail BT Cotton Seeds Eastern in Tharaka Nithi, Kitui, Meru and Coast Counties.
- Establishment of county aggregation and industrial parks in all 47 Counties including Lunga Lunga in Kwale.
- Completion and operationalisation of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Athi River Coast and Dongo Kundu SEZ.
- Construction of 200,000 Affordable Housing Units Annually Eastern. They include Moke Gardens in Athi River, 4,118 units in Machakos, 220 units of Civil servants’ houses in Embu, 400 units of Embu NHC Affordable housing, 1,582 units in Mzizima Estate, Mombasa and 172 units in Matuga AHP in Kwale County.
- Construction of 6,000km of Roads (3,500 Km under conventional method and 2,500 Km of low-volume seal Roads. They include Chiakariga-Marimanti-Gatunga Road (36Km) in Tharaka Nithi, Nkubu – Rubiri – Kamurita (12Kms) in Meru County. (12Kms), Kwale & Ukunda Township Roads – KURA, Mwache – Mteza – Mombasa by KeNHA Lot 2: Mtwapa – Kwa Kadzengo in Kilifi also by KeNHA and Bamba – Ganze – Kilifi (56Kms) by KeRRA.
- Expansion of Technical Vocational Education and Training Eastern in Chuka TTI in Tharaka Nithi, Mukiria TTI in Meru, Kaelo TTI in Meru, Kenya Coast National Polytechnic in Mombasa, Ahmed Mwindani TTI in Mombasa, Msambweni TTI in Kwale, Weru TTI Malindi in Kilifi.
- Completion of Bachuma Livestock Export Zone (LEZ) and Construction and Operationalization of Lamu LEZ Coast Bachuma Livestock Export Zone (LEZ) in Taita Taveta.
- Development and Operationalization of Ports Coast at the Mombasa Port.
- National Liquefied Petroleum Gas Enhancement Coast at the Kenya Coast National Polytechnic in Mombasa.
- Construction and improvement of the National Government Administration Infrastructure. Eastern. The projects include the refurbishment of the Machakos County Commissioner’s offices in Machakos, the refurbishment of the Isiolo County Commissioner’s Offices Coast and the refurbishment of the Kwale County Commissioner’s offices.
- Blue Economy Investment and Development of Ultra-Modern Tuna Fish Hub at Liwatoni in Mombasa.
- Expansion of Existing Irrigation Schemes including the Galana-Kulalu Food Security Project in Kilifi.
On Thursday, September 5, Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura revealed that the government would carry out a nationwide inspection to inspect the development projects initiated by President William Ruto amid reports of ghost project launches.
Mwaura, who addressed the media at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, stated that the process will involve officials from the Office of the President who will be tasked with conducting a comprehensive assessment of the projects.
He added that while the government supported the freedom of expression from those who had hit out at the government over the said projects, he urged the people exercising the same to act with patriotism to the country, remarks which had appeared to take a swipe at Morara.
The spokesperson added that the inspection would see officials from his office and that of the President visit the projects including those in remote areas to ascertain whether those are abandoned or lagging despite budgetary allocations.
“We will ensure that what is on paper and what we discuss here in Nairobi is actually happening on the ground,” Mwaura stated.
The spokesperson also admitted that the inspection will be conducted in response to the uproar expressed on social media. The inspection is also aimed at clarifying differing evidence provided on actual projects and the record the government holds.
Side by side of Morara Kebaso and Government Spokesperson, Isaac Mwaura. /JEFF KOINANGE.ISAAC MWAURA