Sh740 Million Turkana County Headquarters Still Unused One Year After Handover

Turkana County's new headquarters in Lodwar remains unused about a year after it was officially handed over to the county government, despite the project having taken more than 11 years to complete.

The four-storey office complex was constructed by Landmark Holdings Limited and was handed over to the Turkana County Government after years of delays. The project has cost more than Sh740 million, according to reports on its construction and completion.

The headquarters was initially contracted at about Sh695 million before the contract value was later revised to approximately Sh829 million. The project has been under construction since 2015, with the prolonged implementation attracting scrutiny over expenditure and project management.

The building was among projects examined by the Senate Standing Committee on Devolution in 2025. At the time, senators questioned why the headquarters had taken so long to complete and directed that it be handed over for use.

In May 2025, the Senate committee gave Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai 30 days to occupy the facility. The committee said the contractor had indicated readiness to hand over the building and questioned why the county had not taken possession of the completed works.

Lomorukai told the committee that the building was more than 90 per cent complete at the time. He said outstanding works included an electricity connection, carpet installation in two offices and other final touches.

Landmark Holdings, meanwhile, said it had completed the structural work by 2019 and had finished almost all of its work by 2022. The contractor attributed some of the delays to late payments and work assigned to specialist subcontractors.

The contractor also said the building lacked electricity and water at the time, arguing that some of those works were not its responsibility. It maintained that it was ready to hand over the facility.

The Senate committee subsequently directed that the remaining works be completed and that the county proceed with occupation of the building. The facility was eventually handed over to the county government.

The continued non-use of the headquarters has renewed attention on a project whose implementation has stretched across several years and successive county administrations.

The headquarters is also being discussed alongside the stalled Governor's residence, another long-running Turkana project. The residence has recently faced another setback after Landmark Holdings' contract for completion works was mutually terminated.

The two projects have been subject to questions about procurement, contract management and the use of public funds. Turkana's county headquarters alone has consumed hundreds of millions of shillings while remaining outside normal county operations.

The Senate has previously questioned whether Turkana has received sufficient value from some of its major capital projects. The county government has maintained that it inherited several stalled projects and has sought to complete those considered viable.

The headquarters now presents a different problem from the years when construction was incomplete. The building has been handed over, but its intended use as the county's administrative headquarters has yet to materialise.

The situation leaves a substantial public building in Lodwar without the county operations it was designed to accommodate, despite the lengthy construction period and expenditure already incurred.

The latest development adds another chapter to the history of Turkana's headquarters project, which began during the early years of devolution and took more than a decade to reach completion and handover.