By Kepher Otieno - Reporter
Kenya, 16 December 2025 - The termination of the County Aggregation and Industrial Park (CAIP) contract in Siaya County marks a critical moment for one of the region’s flagship development projects, exposing deeper governance and implementation challenges that continue to affect large-scale public investments at the county level.
Governor James Orengo has directed the County Department of Public Works to revise the project design, re-advertise the tender, and award the contract to a bidder with demonstrable technical and financial capacity to fast-track implementation.
The move follows the termination of a Sh483.7 million contract previously awarded to Brechu Company Ltd, a decision the county leadership says was necessary after the project stalled for nearly a year.
CAIP is a co-funded initiative between the Siaya County Government under Governor Orengo’s Nyalore administration and the national government.
It is designed as a transformative industrial hub aimed at strengthening agricultural value addition, improving market access, and attracting investment.
Planned facilities include four value-addition warehouses, two aggregation warehouses, eight cold rooms, an office block, a pump house, and a powerhouse, spread across 40,500 square metres.
From a development perspective, the project’s delay has significant implications.
CAIP is expected to play a catalytic role in unlocking local value chains, supporting cooperative societies, creating jobs, and positioning Siaya as a competitive agro-industrial node.
Its prolonged stalling has therefore not only slowed infrastructure delivery but also delayed anticipated economic multipliers.
Governor Orengo has defended the termination, insisting that contractors will not be allowed to “gamble” with projects intended to transform livelihoods. He revealed that the contract was terminated in August 2025 after implementation slowed considerably.
While the original design was prepared by the national government, Orengo said adjustments were necessary due to the site’s hilly terrain, necessitating design revisions before works could resume.
However, the episode has also drawn attention to weaknesses in procurement and project management processes. Orengo described the procurement of CAIP as “a total disaster,” acknowledging that flaws at this stage contributed to the project’s derailment.
Such an admission underscores a broader governance challenge facing many devolved units, where ambitious development plans are undermined by weak contractor vetting, poor oversight, and coordination gaps between county and national governments.
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Trade Acting Chief Officer Elizabeth Adongo confirmed that the contract termination process is ongoing.
A committee has been constituted to review work completed, payments made, and outstanding balances.
The county has also requested a fresh Bill of Quantities from the Public Works department and is consulting with the national government on the project’s next phase.
Legal processes are also underway, with the County Attorney’s office engaged to formally close out the terminated contract.
At the political level, local leaders are under pressure from constituents increasingly attuned to comparative development outcomes across counties.
MCA David Ragen Ababa, whose ward hosts the project, noted that residents are closely monitoring CAIP’s progress and benchmarking it against similar projects elsewhere.
While affirming that CAIP is a project approved and championed by Governor Orengo, Ragen expressed concern that despite ring-fenced funding of nearly Sh500 million, no visible progress has been made since the contract’s termination.
This pause raises important development trade-offs. Funds tied up in stalled projects reduce fiscal flexibility, potentially crowding out other critical interventions. At the same time, rushing re-procurement without resolving underlying design, terrain, and capacity issues risks repeating past mistakes.
Ultimately, the CAIP reset presents both a challenge and an opportunity. If the re-advertisement process prioritises technical competence, transparency, and speed, the project could regain momentum and deliver on its promise as a regional industrial anchor.
Failure to do so, however, would reinforce public scepticism and weaken confidence in devolved development planning.
As Siaya moves to relaunch CAIP, the test will be whether lessons from the failed contract translate into more resilient and accountable project delivery.
