Litigations are hampering Kenya Kwanza government’s development agenda, deputy chief of staff Eliud Owalo has said.
Owalo, who is in charge of performance and delivery management, said hundreds of millions of taxpayers money is lost in litigations.
He said the government is willing to settle some of the disputes out-of court.
Owalo spoke during an inspection tour of government projects including the Dongo Kundu bypass.
He said the Sh1.5 billion Liwatoni Fisheries Complex, one of the fish landing sites and refrigeration facilities, seeks to address challenges facing the blue economy.
“One of the challenges we have been having within the blue economy sector is lack of enough infrastructure to facilitate storage, refrigeration and subsequent processing of the fish,” Owalo said.
The project, which is 50 per cent complete, has stalled because someone moved to court to stop it.
“For that project (Liwatoni Fisheries Complex), for example, quite a number of prospective beneficiaries are now kept waiting. The project has a capacity to employ 2,500 youth,” Owalo said.
He said litigation is not the only mechanism to solve disputes.
The Dongo Kundu bypass which cost about Sh40 billion, is 98 per cent complete and has been partially opened.
The bypass connects Mombasa mainland to the South Coast, reducing travel time, easing congestion at the Likoni ferry crossing channel and boosting trade, tourism and economic growth.
Phase 1 of the project, which cost about Sh11 billion, is complete.
Phase 2, the 8.9km section between Mwache Junction and Mteza, cost about Sh24 billion (Sh2.66 billion per kilometre) while Phase 3, the 7km section between Mteza and Kibundani, cost about Sh4 billion (about Sh571.4 million per kilometre).
“This is a project co-financed by the government of Japan through JICA [Japan International Cooperation Agency] and the government of Kenya on an 80 to 20 per cent component basis,” Owalo said.
“By and large, the road is fully complete and in the not-too-distant future we should then be able to have the official commissioning of this road.”
He said the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone has already attracted about 98 prospective investors.
The government is currently in the process of facilitating requisite licenses for the investors.
Owalo said he is
impressed by the compensation
process of project-affected persons,
which is now at 90 per cent.
