Business Daily (Nairobi)
Jim Onyango
10 November 2009
The Ministry of Energy has joined the bandwagon of State departments seeking to put up its own building at a time when Treasury is trimming down government expenditure.
The ministry is planning to put up a new multi-storey headquarters to house affiliated parastatals but members of parliament and analysts say this is yet another project that exposes the extravagance in the coalition government.
"We have engineers and senior officers who have no offices to sit in ... we are congested," said the Energy Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike.
The ministry says it intends to house its six parastatals under one roof in the new building to be located at Nairobi's South C estate at a cost of Sh450 million over the first year.
"It will comprise mainly of office space, laboratories, conference rooms, parking lots and related electrical and mechanical works" says the ministry in a public announcement calling for consultants interested in managing the construction tender.
The parastatals to be housed in the proposed headquarters include the National Oil Corporation of Kenya, Electricity Regulatory Company, Geothermal Development Company, Energy Tribunal, Kenya Electricity Transmission Company and the Rural Electricity Authority.
Electricity generator KenGen and power distributor Kenya Power and Lighting Company already have their own headquarters.
Currently the ministry is housed at Nyayo House where it occupies four floors.
The head offices of the parastatals are housed in several buildings across Nairobi
"This is not a prudent exercise, it doesn't make much financial sense because there are much more critical issues that the government could do instead of planning to put up new buildings in town" says Budalangi MP Mr Ababu Namwamba.
Attempts to get the detailed cost of the proposed building from the ministry's headquarters proved futile as officials said publishing the cost would jeopardize the tendering process.
The ministry has asked consultants interested in offering architectural, quantity survey, electrical, mechanical and structural engineering services to tender but Mr Namwamba says the government should use its internal capacity to carry out such works.
In a public announcement in the media, the ministry of Energy says it has started the process of engaging the services of a consortium of consultant firms that will carry out the exercise of preparing the layout and design options for the proposed headquarters.
Proposed building
The consortium will also project the cost of the proposed building and evaluate the construction firms that will put up the building.
Short listed contractors will on November 20, be awarded the tender to start preparations for the construction.
Anti-corruption organizations say the government workers have not exhausted office space in various government buildings.
"Construction of headquarters should not be priorities of the government at this time since it would cost not less than Sh1 billion," said anti corruption campaigner Mwalimu Mati.
Energy Ministry employees at Nyayo house complain of congestion and irregularly serviced lifts which they blame for the long queues at the building's lobby.
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