KIRDI Techno Centre: The Story Behind Nairobi's Longest Stalled Skyscraper

At the junction of Lusaka Road and Dunga Road in Nairobi's South B, an 18-storey concrete shell has stood largely unfinished since construction began in February 2013, making it one of the country's longest running stalled public projects.

The building is the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) Techno Centre, conceived as a Vision 2030 flagship meant to house research laboratories, lecture halls, showrooms, a plenary hall and an amphitheatre dedicated to industrial and technology research.

The design includes three earthquake and wind resistant tower blocks, four basement levels for parking and specialised nano-technology laboratories, along with commercial space, restaurants and an accommodation tower intended to operate as a three-star hotel.

Construction was originally budgeted at Sh3.9 billion and scheduled for completion by March 2016. That deadline slipped repeatedly amid funding shortfalls, pushing the projected completion date to November 2022 and the budget upward to Sh5.4 billion.

The original contractor abandoned the site in September 2022 over unpaid dues, halting work with the project estimated at 80 percent complete and roughly Sh4.1 billion already certified for payment, according to Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.

By January 2024, the Auditor-General's report showed taxpayers had already spent about Sh5 billion on the unfinished structure. In 2021, KIRDI had gone as far as advertising for hoteliers interested in leasing the accommodation tower, at a time officials still expected the building to open that year.

The institute's board considered pursuing a public private partnership to complete the remaining works in December 2024, but shelved the idea in favour of seeking direct funding from the National Treasury.

Industry Principal Secretary Juma Mukhwana wrote to Treasury counterpart Chris Kiptoo in January 2025 requesting an additional Sh2.6 billion, arguing that finishing the building would save the government Sh175.9 million annually currently spent leasing office space for agencies such as the Anti-Counterfeit Authority.

The project has since been revived with fresh funding and a new contractor. The Kenya National Highways Authority awarded the main construction contract to Kingsley Construction Company for Sh2.66 billion, with the government adding Sh3.4 billion in new financing that has pushed the total project cost to Sh8.56 billion, more than double the original budget.

Kingsley Construction Company is expected to complete the remaining works by February 2028, according to disclosures published on the government procurement portal, more than a decade after the original 2016 deadline.

Treasury had allocated Sh500 million toward the project for the current financial year, which officials said would allow the new contractor to begin works on site.

The KIRDI Techno Centre's decade long timeline stands out even among Kenya's flagship public projects, illustrating how funding gaps and contractor disputes can stall a single building for over ten years despite repeated government commitments to complete it.