Governors in Nyanza and Western are haunted by their much-hyped and costly investment conferences, many of which have yielded little or nothing.
With only nine months to the general election, the expensive “summits” have become political and public relations nightmares for the incumbents.
Their delighted critics and rivals are capitalising on the flopped ventures to fight them.
Governors Cyprian Awiti (Homa Bay), Moses Akaranga (Vihiga), James Ongwae (Kisii), Sospeter Ojamoong (Busia) and Cornel Rasanga (Siaya) hosted investment and entrepreneurship forums.
The Star has not independently established how much each county spent, but sources indicate such an event costs more than Sh30 million.
Some counties partnered with corporates to host the forums. Political observers say failure to implement any of the projects before elections will hurt the governors’ reelection bids.
A survey by the Star shows that despite the governors spending millions in hosting the forums, no investment has been made in some of the counties.
The Busia International Investor Conference was held at the Busia Agricultural Training Centre in March 2015.
Former Busia County Kengele Forum convener Jacob Ndagwa said the event was “a ploy to spend and plunder public resources”.
Apart from a cassava project, no other project is on course.
Ojaamong has denied the allegations, saying constant court battles [over projects] have cast doubt on the efficacy of the legal system. He said this calls for investigations into the motives of those frustrating the county’s development efforts.
“Everest Juice Factory is rolling at Ikapolok in Malaba Central, a cassava factory is in progress at Simba Chai while sugar factories are ongoing at Busibwabo and Olepito,” he said.
In Kisii, 10 months since the county held an entrepreneurship summit, nothing significant has taken place.
This is despite the county government signing investment deals worth Sh20 billion.
Governor James Ongwae signed an MoU with a Chinese firm, Boleyn Magic Wall Panel Ltd, to invest Sh12 billion in Kisii new city but the project is delayed for lack of land.
The county government also signed an agreement with an Indian firm, Kanoria Group, to set up a Sh5 billion sugar complex in South Mugirango. Residents are waiting for it to start.
Ongwae said preparations are on course. It is estimated the plant will crush 5,000 tonnes of cane per day and produce 172,500 metric tonnes. This would make it the second largest sugar factory in Kenya after Mumias.
In Homa Bay, local and international investors signed Sh32.6 billion agreements with the county for projects. The county also sealed deals for a cement factory, garment factory, biomass energy and solar power plants.
Vihiga county is yet to gain from the Annual Lake Region Agribusiness Investment Conference and Exhibition in September. The county paid Sh3 million and six counties that attended contributed Sh600,000. There was one offer from a sunflower investor.
It is the same story in Siaya, which has hosted two investment conferences. Governor Rasanga has made several foreign trips, but no major investment has taken place.
In 2014, Siaya county held an investment conference to showcase its resources for local and international investors. Aside from showcasing resources yearly, the governor has made several foreign trips to woo investors. There’s no real investor.
An Indian-based investor visited mid year to invest in Yala swamp. But it backed off after the governor suspended all swamp activities for a survey.
It has no big US investment to show for the Sh52 billion spent during President Barack Obama’s visit.