Residents of Kirinyaga have failed to overturn a decision to move the county headquarters from Kutus to Kerugoya.
Also dealt a blow is the county government, which has already put up a Sh380 million headquarters in Kutus town. The county assembly sits in Kerugoya.
President Uhuru Kenyatta in April assented to a bill that gazetted Kerugoya as the county headquarters. The 2014 County Governments (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Senate and Parliament.
But the residents, unhappy with the move, collected signatures to overturn the decision. More than 2,000 residents signed the petition. They moved to court to challenge the Kenya Gazette notice designating Kerugoya as the county headquarters.
Led by Wilson Kinyua and Lydia Wanjiku, seven residents filed the case, arguing that they were never consulted on the decision. But yesterday, Justice Richard Limo dismissed the case, saying the petition lacked merit.
Some area MPs had opposed Governor Joseph Ndathi’s decision to place the county headquarters in Kutus but Gichugu MP Njoroge Barua supported him.
Kirinyaga Council of Elders chairman Bishop Cyrus Githaka in April said the county had invested a lot of money in building offices in Kutus. He said the people of Kirinyaga stood to lose if the headquarters is moved.