Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga has dismissed as inaccurate reports in a local newspaper that her administration demolished a multimillion-shilling factory to pave way for the construction of the governor’s office.

The report had claimed that the construction of Arujo Animal Feeds factory, which cost taxpayers KSh100 million, was at the roofing stage when it was teared down.

The construction of the factory situated in Arujo Ward, Homa Bay Town Sub-County was initiated in 2014 during the tenure of then-Governor Cyprian Awiti.

But in a statement, Governor Wanga says that the project stalled for long due to not meeting mandatory construction standards.

For instance, Governor Wanga says the project did not receive the requisite approvals from agencies such as the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) due to its close proximity of about 300 meters to the Kabunde airstrip and thus on the flight path.

“Animal feeds manufacturing was incompatible with the flight path and a risk of bird strikes, the area has since been re-planned under the Physical Planning Act,” Governor Wanga says. “The animal feeds project was moved to the County Aggregation and Industrial Park at Riwa Special Economic Zone.”

After the re-planning and relocation, Governor Wanga rues that the the animal feeds factory project and its unfinished structure had became a “ghost project”, with the building deteriorating over the years.

“The condemned buildings could have not cost KSh100 million. The project was later decommissioned. Under Governor Wanga’s leadership, projects left unfinished by previous administration such as this one continue to be repurposed or completed to maximize public funds’ value,” a statement from Wanga’s spokesperson states.

The governor adds that her administration redesigned and repurposed the existing buildings to serve as a Huduma Centre for service delivery as part of the County Headquarter.

“All the necessary approvals have been obtained including from the National Land Commission (NLC) and NEMA for the development of the County Headquarters, including the repurposed Huduma Centre. We would like to urge the media to strive to report objectively and seek all sides of the story before publishing,” the county boss says. “If our input had been sought, this additional information would have been readily available… We are dedicated to serve and transform Homa Bay County. The County HQ is a transformative project for service delivery.”

Nonetheless, two activists have moved to the Environment and Lands Court accusing Homa Bay County Government of wrongly demolishing the factory.

Evance Oloo and Eugene Obisa claim that the devolved government failed to comply with the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2015 and related regulations.

They also argue that the county government did not seek public opinion before demolishing.