Nandi County could demolish new Sh150m governor’s office block

The upcoming governor's office building could be demolished following the discovery of structural weaknesses.

In a preliminary report, the National Construction Authority (NCA) has questioned the stability and safety of the structural design.

The report dated March 23, 2018 indicates that the initial architectural plan of the building was changed midway into the construction to accommodate extra floors, compromising the ability of the foundation to support the building.

“There are worrying cracks and drainage issues that are also serious... There are serious errors in the structural design coupled with faulty construction and poor workmanship... as a result the main pillars are too weak to accommodate the weight of the building,” says the report.

Construction of the four-storey office block was initiated by Governor Stephen Sang’s predecessor, Cleophas Lagat. The building had already been roofed pending completion. It has gobbled up Sh150 million so far.

Six officers

A team of six officers from NCA led by Michael Walela was contracted by Transport and Infrastructure Executive Hillary Koech to audit the stalled project.

“The exercise to inspect the stalled governor’s office building is a direct request from the governor. The issue is of great importance to the public,” said Mr Koech's letter to NCA dated February 8, 2018.

Koech however said a decision was yet to be made regarding whether or not to demolish the condemned building. He said the county administration would make its final decision when NCA presented a detailed audit report.

“The county is yet to make a conclusive report on demolishing the stalled governor’s office. The NCA audit report is not yet out,” he said.

Isaac Sang, chairman of Nandi contractors’ organisation, accused NCA of sleeping on the job. He claimed the agency had watched in silence as the contractor did a shoddy job.

Entire process

“NCA has been involved in the entire process of the construction of this building. It is therefore suspect for them to come in and condemn the building at this late hour when millions of shillings have been wasted,” he said.

Last year, the governor claimed serious procurement malpractices had corrupted the process of putting up the office block. He said at the time his government would not proceed with the project until a full audit was done.

“It is clear that the building is not up to standard compared to the amount of money it has already eaten up,” Sang said when he launched a contractors’ audit report.