Feeling the heat: Orengo cancels building of palatial governor's mansion
Siaya Governor James Orengo (left) and his Deputy William Oduol.
Siaya Governor James Orengo has rejected proposals to build palatial governor and deputy governor residences at Got Akara, saying the projects are not a priority. Mr Orengo spoke a day after the groundbreaking ceremony, saying Governance and Administration Chief Officer Joseph Omondi acted without authority.
“It is surprising that the officer went for a groundbreaking ceremony without informing anyone,” Mr Orengo said.
“The governor’s residence is not a priority for us now; farmers need fertiliser and seeds to plant, our hospitals need drugs and personnel, and therefore we cannot afford the luxury of setting up a palatial home.”
He added: “For now, the governor and the deputy governor are comfortable wherever they are staying. With the current economic stakes that are so high, we shall stay where we are.”
Mr Orengo also noted that the 2022/2023 budget does not have any allocation for such projects.
“The 2022/2023 budget does not have even a coin set for the construction of the governor’s residence,” he added.
“It was budgeted in the 2021/2022 budget and it was not implemented and because it is not in the budget and it did not follow prerequisite procedures, we will not have it.”
Sh79 million budget
The two homes were budgeted to cost a total of Sh79 million – Sh44 million for the governor’s and Sh35 million for the deputy governor’s.
The projects elicited mixed reactions on social media.
Mr Omondi said when he led the groundbreaking ceremony that the Got Akara land was the best and most secure site.
“We shall request our leaders to be patient just for one year as the construction will be going on. For now, they will be operating from their homes to the office,” he noted.
Mr Vitalis Asewe, the contractor for the projects, said the work would have taken slightly over one year to be completed.
Mr Orengo's rejection of the projects came after some community members from Got Akara questioned how the land was acquired by the previous administration.
“Taxpayers’ money was used to purchase the Got Akara land, but the land is on a hill and should be government land,” said Mr Vincent Odhiambo, a member of the Siaya Civil society group.
“It therefore means someone fraudulently acquired the land and sold it back to the government.”
Unlike his predecessor, Mr Cornel Rasanga, who lived less than 10km from the office, Governor Orengo will travel more than 60km daily from Masiro in Ugenya to his office.
Besides rejecting the proposed Got Akara official residences, Mr Orengo also stopped the payment of pending bills and all procurement in the county government.
The suspension of settling pending bills will be in place “until a thorough audit is done and the value for money ascertained”, he said.
On procurement, he said “only essential goods will be procured especially by the Health department”.
