Barasa gives contractor two weeks to complete Sh108m dairy plant

The stalled milk processing plant at Tumbeni in Malava constituency /HILTON OTENYO

Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa has given the contractor of the Sh108 million Tumbeni milk processing plant in Malava constituency two weeks to complete and hand over the project.

 Barasa stated that the county government has allocated Sh60 million for this financial year to complete the project by next month.

 “We have paid the contractor enough money to finish the construction of this facility. We cannot keep singing the same song about this plant for years,” Barasa said.

 Once complete, the plant will process 50,000 litres of milk alongside other dairy products, including yoghurt, mala, cheese and Ultra Heat Treated milk.

 The project seeks to provide a ready market for milk produced by farmers within the county and neighbouring counties.

 Barasa was speaking when he inspected the status of the facility in Chemuche ward, Malava constituency on Tuesday.

 “This milk plant will employ over 500 people when complete to give our young men and women an opportunity to improve their economic status,” he said.

 He was accompanied by Taneo Moriyama, Chief Advisor and Kenjiro Nakayama from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

 The JICA team is collaborating with the county government under the project, Strengthening Public Support for Business Development in Agro-Industry.

 In June this year Kakamega deputy governor Ayub Savula said completion of the plant has been delayed because the county is still looking for an investor.

 “The process of procuring an investor for the plant is ongoing and we will soon settle on one to equip and run the factory,” Savula said.

 The county asked the contractor to go slow, to wait for the specifications of the equipment that the investor will bring in.

 Savula said one investor from Uganda and several local ones, including Githunguri Dairies, have expressed interest in running the project.

 Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has flagged the project for stalling, despite having consumed over Sh50 million of taxpayers’ money.

 Gathungu, in her audit report for Kakamega County Executive for 2023-24, said the contract time had already lapsed.

 The report dated January 29 said the project stalled at 76.5 per cent and the contractor had been paid Sh54,253,997 out of the total contract sum of Sh108,091,679, translating to 51 per cent of the cost.

 The project is one of the cases under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, according to a report by the anti-graft agency to the Senate.