The Laikipia County government will move its headquarters from Nanyuki in Laikipia East to Rumuruti in Laikipia West in two months, Governor Joshua Irungu has announced.
The announcement came amid pressure from residents for officials to move government offices to Rumuruti, which is located in the centre of the county.
Though Rumuruti is the gazetted county headquarters, officials have operated from Nanyuki since the advent of devolution.
Governor Irungu said his administration will start operating from its Sh60 million headquarters in Rumuruti in January.
“The construction of the county headquarters is almost complete and ready for occupancy. My administration will relocate its headquarters from Nanyuki to Rumuruti come January 2023,” Mr Irungu said.
Though work on the offices in Rumuruti started six years ago and was completed three years later, efforts to move there met resistance from some businesspeople in Nanyuki.
The traders argued that Nanyuki was already developed and the county government did not need to spend more money to build new offices in Rumuruti.
In February 2014, the Laikipia County Assembly passed a motion to move the county government and its offices from Nanyuki to Rumuruti.
Bring services closer
Residents had argued that such a move would bring services closer to them.
“Rumuruti is the central point of our county, unlike Nanyuki, which is at the edge of the county. The county government should consider shifting its headquarters to Rumuruti to ensure that every resident accesses government services with ease,” said Joseph Mwangi, a resident of Karandi.
Mr Alex Kaishu, another resident, noted that people from Laikipia West and parts of Laikipia North constituencies had been neglected for a long time and travelled over 100km to Nanyuki for services.
The fast-changing face of the Rumuruti municipality has drawn investors, turning the town into a real estate and holiday destination.
Infrastructure upgrades have also sparked a land subdivision frenzy and a flurry of property sales as real estate firms pitch tents in the town seeking to satisfy growing demand among buyers who want to build houses.
“The town has what is required in the real estate industry,” said Ms Angeline Mwangi, a real estate developer.
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