City Hall is set to commence construction of a Sh290 million official residence for the Governor in Nairobi’s Kilimani estate, with plans now in place to compensate 12 families currently residing on the designated land.

Each family, as said by Acting County Secretary Geoffrey Akumali will receive Sh50,000 as part of the compensation process, which is crucial for facilitating the upcoming construction.

While appearing before the County Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Committee yesterday, Akumali said the county is behind schedule in fulfilling the legal requirements for an official governor’s residence, a necessity outlined during devolution under the Transition Authority.

“We are actually behind schedule because this is something that should have been done long ago,” he stated, stressing the importance of moving forward with the project.

According to the county government, the contractor is expected to begin work by the end of this month. Initially, the county had allocated Sh500 million for the residence, but this amount was revised down to Sh290 million after the governor declined to have an official residence. So far, Sh60 million has been released for the construction, which is scheduled for completion by April 2025.

Audit queries

Committee Chairman Jared Akama reiterated the necessity of establishing the residence to avoid audit queries.

“This is a requirement of the law, and indeed Nairobi is behind schedule. For now, it is important to clear the audit queries,” he said.

In early 2022, the  Nairobi county government announced plans to spend Sh500 million on the official residences of the governor and his deputy.

This was to be the first purchase of such houses since devolution and after the directive from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.

Treasury in 2019 stated it was spending Sh5 million in monthly rent for governors, Sh4.51 million for deputy governors, and Sh3.75 million for speakers, further burdening taxpayers who also foot other perks like transport and entertainment allowances for the officers.

The County Annual Development Plan for 2022-2023 is proposing the purchase of governors’ and deputy governors’ residences amounting to Sh500 million,” the document read.

The plan did not outline in detail the location, specifications, and cost of each house.

The amount, however, surpasses what the Senate had capped as the cost of a governor’s residence at Sh45 million, that of the deputy governor at Sh40 million, and Sh35 million for the speaker.