Sakaja's Sh290M new house: 12 families to be compensated for land

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 twelve 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 on Tuesday, Akumali said that 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 construction, which is scheduled for completion by April 2025.

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.

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja before the Senate Committee on Finance and Budget. (Photo: File/CPS)

The budget for the house is contained in the latest County Annual Plan for the 2022-2023 financial year.

"The County Annual Development Plan for the year 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.

In October 2022, Governor Sakaja publicly rejected any allocation for a governor's residence.

Sakaja disclosed that the county government allocated a budget for vehicle purchases, but he turned it down too.

"Even before I was elected governor, I owned vehicles, and I don't understand why they want me to buy one," he said.

The county boss explained that he was focusing on the needs of the people of Nairobi and that buying extra vehicles was not a priority.

The governor then rejected a Sh500 million budget that had been allocated to his office for the construction of his official residences.

He said the money will instead be used to build markets that will benefit small and medium-scale enterprises (SMSE) in Nairobi.

"I have just seen a budget that is allocating Sh500 million for the construction of governors' and deputy governors' houses. I have asked them to reallocate the money to other priority projects like the construction of markets and creating jobs for our young people," Sakaja said then.

"I already have a place where I live; why do I need Sh500 million for another residence? Let's work for our people," he added.