Colonial DC's office in Kipini faces collapse amid heritage neglect

The abandoned colonial-era District Commissioner's office at Kipini town in Tana Delta Sub County, Tana River County. May 14, 2025. [Nehemiah Okwembah, Standard]. The colonial-era District Commissioner's office, which is a key tourist attraction site in Kipini, Tana River County, has been neglected and is in danger of collapse. According to the residents, the house constructed in 1899 has not been renovated or restored despite promises by former tourism minister Najib Balala and the late Suleiman Shakombo. Jibril Gudo and Said Omar said that the relocation of the district headquarters to Hola town in Tana North Sub County had disadvantaged Kipini town, leading to neglect. They now want the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) to renovate the one-storey building and include it as one of the country's heritage sites for tourists to visit. "Balala and Shakombo visited this building when they were ministers and promised to repair and include it among Kenya's heritage sites, but all that has remained a promise," said Gudo. He added: "We are now calling on President William Ruto to order the Ministry of Tourism to renovate it so that Kipini can get foreign and local tourists." Gudo criticised NMK for only concentrating on gazetting the 120-year-old church at Ngao village in the Tarasaa area and forgetting about the DC's office in Kipini. "We are grateful that the old church at Ngao village was converted into a museum and renovated, hence elevating it to a tourist attraction site, and that should also happen to Kipini," he added. Omar said that the continued neglect of Kipini had contributed to high poverty levels in the area, as residents are forced to travel to Garsen, about 70 km away, to get government services. "When the DC's headquarters was moved to Hola, the district hospital also moved to Hola, and later, Tana Delta was made a district and the headquarters was put in Garsen, which is 70km away. "Recently, Tarasaa was elevated to a sub-county, leaving Kipini marginalised again. We demand that Kipini be promoted to a sub-county so that we can enjoy the services," said Omar. According to historical accounts, British forces built an office and road for the district commissioner at Kipini in October 1899 to control the Tana River district and The DC used to be carried on a palanquin on the shoulders of carriers. The DC reportedly instructed every village to find the strongest, most energetic and most handsome men to carry him. The road to the DC's office was nicknamed in Kipokomo as mzigo wa Malindi, loosely translated as the load of Malindi. In April last year, Ngao village got a community museum thanks to the rehabilitation of the 120-year-old missionary building within the village by the NMK. This is after NMK received a Sh2.7 million grant from Greece-based Heritage International to renovate the church building that was constructed between 1900 and 1902 by German missionaries who used it as a launching pad for evangelistic work among the Pokomo of Tana River after an earlier attempt to evangelise the Orma failed. After its renovation, it was made part of a tourism circuit that includes three First World War monuments in Garsen and the nearby Methodist Church.

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