Governors run counties remotely as residents thirst for services

 

The Sh150 million Nandi county government offices in Kapsabet. The construction has stalled for over seven years. [File, Standard]

Residents of Turkana and Nandi counties are finding it difficult to get services as their governors and some senior county officials are rarely in their offices.

The residents claim the officials have chosen to work from hotels and private residences instead. They describe the county headquarters as ghost offices, saying routine services such as bursary approvals, procurement decisions and field reports are delayed because senior officers are often unavailable.

Eliud Emeri, a civil society leader in Turkana, says the trend reflects weak leadership.

“It is incompetence to be absent from the office when you are the head of the county. We elected the governor to work from the office, not from hotels,” Emeri said. He also questioned whether oversight bodies are doing their job.

“People are asking whether the Turkana County Public Service Board even knows that some staff are absent. Monitoring attendance is part of their mandate,” Emeri added.

According to residents, Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai only shows up at the county headquarters when hosting senior national government officials, Cabinet Secretaries from Nairobi, or delegations from NGOs and international organisations.

Even meetings with security teams, they say, are sometimes held in private venues rather than official offices.

For ordinary residents, the situation has become both costly and discouraging.

“There was a time I went to look for the governor at the office and I was directed to Stegra Hotel,” said James Lokor. “I wondered why a public officer should be located in a hotel instead of the office.”

Maria Akeno shared a similar experience: “We spend money on transport to come to town hoping to get help. But you are told the governor is not in. Ordinary people are the ones who suffer.”

Peter Ewoo, a boda boda rider, said the absence of leaders sends the wrong message.

“When leaders are not in the office, wananchi feel ignored. People start to lose confidence in the county government,” he said.

Some county staff blame the problem on delayed salaries and unpaid allowances. One employee, who asked not to be named, said many workers now stay away from the office to cut costs.

“The reason some of us are absent is salary delays. We have to survive. Sometimes you go to the field and file reports but you are not paid your allowances. If you come to the county headquarters, you will find only a few people. Many are working from home,” the staff member said.

Emeri warned that prolonged absence by senior leaders weakens accountability and hurts service delivery.

“When the governor is always away, even chief officers take advantage. The ordinary mwananchi suffers and accountability is lost,” he said.

The concern is sharper in a county struggling with water shortages, livestock losses and limited access to health and education services, where consistent leadership is needed most.

Efforts to reach Governor Lomorukai for comment were unsuccessful.

Nandi Governor Stephen Sang is still using the county commissioner’s office where he occasionally transacts his official business, including Cabinet meetings and consultations with the envoys in their official visit.

The county has no official residence for the governor and reports indicate that Sang lives in Eldoret. He occasionally holds political meetings at his home in Chepketemon village in Aldai Constituency.

For close to ten years, the Governor’s Block is yet to be completed owing to political clashes and architectural issues that were raised by local leaders from 2018.

Currently, the building, which has consumed over Sh250 million, is standing tall along Kapsabet - Eldoret highway, painted white but interior designs and furniture installation is yet to be done. 

The departmental offices are located in various locations within Kapsabet town since the building hosting the governor’s office is not big enough to accommodate the county executives.

Most of the CECs, including Health and Sanitation, Sports, Agriculture, Trade, Education, Environment and Roads, are operating in the facilities of the defunct municipality.