Nakuru county risks losing Sh 250 million paid towards industrial park land

Nakuru county risks losing Sh 250 million paid to a contractor for the setting up of the County Aggregation and Industrial Park on a controversial parcel of land.

New details have revealed that the county government paid the money for the construction of the project, without first ascertaining ownership of the land.

The Auditor General in her report for the financial year 2023/2024 has raised concerns over the process followed by the county administration to identify the land in Njoro after it emerged that no feasibility study was done before embarking on the project.

According to the report, the county transferred Sh 250 million from the development account to the County Aggregation and Industrial Park account held in a local bank.

The report notes that there was no documentation provided to confirm ownership of the land.

The contract for the development of the industrial park was awarded in the 2023/2024 financial year for the Sh 464, 221, 150 project whose funding is co-shared between the county and the national government.

The Auditor general revealed that it is also not clear how the location of the park was identified since no feasibility study was conducted.

“In the circumstances the public may not obtain value for money for the transferred amount Sh 250,000,” read part of the report.

The 100-acre parcel of land at Njoro that was set aside for the construction of the park has been at the centre of a legal tussle pitting the county government and Egerton university on one side and members of Mosem enterprises on the other.

Both parties are claiming ownership of the land.

The construction of the project was suspended last year following a petition by a Njoro resident Ezekiel Kesemdany who challenged the process of acquisition of the land by the county.

Mr Kesemdany argued that no public participation was conducted before the land was allocated for the project, yet the land is public property.