Sh60m Laikipia county offices idle as headquarters tussle persists

Laikipia residents are piling pressure on officials to relocate the county’s headquarters from Nanyuki in Laikipia East to Rumuruti in Laikipia West.

This after the Sh60 million county government office complex in the fast-growing town was completed.

Though Rumuruti is the gazetted county headquarters, officials have been operating from Nanyuki since the advent of devolution.

“We are wondering why the county government continues operating in Nanyuki yet the county government offices here in Rumuruti were completed a year ago,” said Miriam Wangechi, a trader in Rumuruti.

She urged Governor Joshua Irungu’s administration to start operating from Rumuruti.

Residents say shifting the county’s headquarters to the town would help bring services closer to them.

“Rumuruti is the central point of our county, unlike Nanyuki, which is at the edge of the county,” said Joseph Mwangi, a resident of Karandi. 

“The county government should consider shifting its headquarters to Rumuruti so as to ensure that every resident can access government services with ease.”

Neglected

Alex Kaishu, another resident, noted that people from Laikipia West and parts of Laikipia North constituencies had been neglected for a long time and must travel over 100km to Nanyuki to seek services.

In February, 2014, the Laikipia County Assembly passed a motion to move the county government and its offices from Nanyuki to Rumuruti. 

MCAs passed the motion to support an earlier gazettement of Rumuruti as the county headquarters.

But that decision was opposed by a group of businesspeople from Nanyuki who argued this town was already developed and it would cost the county government a lot of money to build new offices in Rumuruti.

Six traders from Nanyuki had filed a case accusing Mr Irungu, who was the governor then, and the county assembly of relocating the headquarters from Nanyuki to Rumuruti without public participation.

The petitioners also argued that the relocation was a waste of public funds. But the court dismissed the case.

Changing face

The fast-changing face of Rumuruti attracted investors, who have turned it into a real estate and holiday destination.

Infrastructure upgrades have also led to a land subdivision frenzy and a flurry of property sales as real estate firms pitch tents in town seeking to satisfy the growing demand for houses.

Real estate investors say this is due to the availability of large chunks of affordable land and infrastructure development.

“The town has what is required in the real estate industry,” said Ms Angeline Mwangi, a developer.

“The reason investors have been flocking to the town is that the town has all that is required for the industry to grow well,” she said, adding that for the industry to thrive, there must be affordable land, developed infrastructure and good roads.

Among the real estate companies with offices in the town are Angaza Real Estate Ltd, Jekmas Services, Maiyan Homes, Country Resorts and Kiloran Developers.

Those who own large chunks of land have been subdividing them into smaller pieces to investors, offering attractive prices ranging from Sh300,000 and above.

Four years ago, Rumuruti was elevated to a municipality.

This saw it benefit from a Sh50 million grant from the World Bank for upgrades under the Kenya Urban Support Programme.

The town now has a proper drainage system, street lights and pathways. Some 20km of its roads were also upgraded to bitumen standard.

Ms Mwangi told the Nation that good roads and other amenities have drawn real estate players to the town.

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