Principal Secretary for Industries Juma Mukhwana has called out Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya for failing to deliver on the construction of the county’s industrial park despite the ministry dispatching the full Ksh116 million meant for the project, which still remains at the foundation level.

While speaking during an interview on the Ikuwekuwe Facebook page on Saturday, October 11, 2025, the PS expressed his disappointment that despite the Ministry of Trade and Investments allocating the full amount required for the construction and completion of the industrial park, nothing meaningful has been recorded, even though the funds are already in the hands of the county government.

“I can go on record to state that we dispatched Ksh116 million to Trans Nzoia for the construction of the industrial park in Namandala, yet it has never gone past the foundation level,” Mukhwana stated.

He went ahead to fault the governor for being at the forefront of overseeing other government agencies and accusing them of inability to lead and corruption, while he himself has failed to deliver on a basic project like an industrial park, despite it being fully funded.

He further stated that the function of the national government is to allocate funds meant for the construction of such projects to counties, and it is up to the devolved units to take over from there and continue with the construction, procurement, and completion.

He also faulted Bungoma County, which has also lagged behind in the implementation and construction of its industrial park.

 He stated that the ministry has already dispatched the funds required for its construction, but unlike Trans Nzoia, which is still stuck at the foundation level, Bungoma has made slightly better progress, having completed almost 40 per cent of the work despite full allocation.

He went ahead to state that the ministry has no pending funds to be allocated to devolved units for the construction of industrial parks, and should there be any delay, the blame should fall on the governors.

Moses Kuria’s role

Industrial parks are flagship projects of the Kenya Kwanza administration, first implemented by Moses Kuria while serving as the Trade and Investments Cabinet Secretary before being transferred to the Ministry of Public Service.

The initiative saw him traverse the country launching the construction of these parks, which are aimed at setting up local manufacturing firms that would otherwise be expensive if left to the private sector alone and at enhancing value addition to locally produced commodities.