This archive report was first published on 15 September 2019.
Published on September 15, 2019, the Kisumu Urban Project, a Sh4.5 billion initiative funded by the French government, is finally back on track after a new management team was appointed to oversee its completion.
The project, which commenced over 10 years ago, had stalled due to delays in implementing major projects, including the Sh800 million sanitary landfill and the Sh770 million Kibuye, Jubilee, and Otonglo markets.
According to Aloice Ager, County Director of Communication, the new team will mainly validate the designs and contracts, and authorise financiers for no-objection, and fast-track the implementation of the project.
The project, which has been the implementing partner of the county government through Kisumu City Management, has faced teething challenges since its conceptualisation in 2006, including a one-year extension of its timeline.
However, the project's bank accounts were frozen last year after the Director of Criminal Investigations launched investigations into suspected fraud following reports that some money had been wired through a wrong account.
The landfill project has also hit a dead end twice after the Civil Aviation Authority and the National Environmental Management Authority rejected proposed sites in Muhoroni saying they were on the flight path.
