The building, which was completed last July, is now feared to have been inappropriately constructed, posing danger to county staff.
The county government transferred its headquarters from Lamu Island to the Mokowe premises, which is in the mainland shortly after completion.
Staff said the building has been leaking since the rainy season began.
Lamu county government staff, including governor Fahim Twaha, have been forced to vacate the Sh220 million headquarters in Mokowe just 10 months after occupation.
The building, which was completed last July, is now feared to have been inappropriately constructed, posing danger to county staff.
The county government transferred its headquarters from Lamu Island to the Mokowe premises, which is in the mainland shortly after completion.
Staff said the building has been leaking since the rainy season began.
The office block does not have electricity and county employees still working from the premises have to contend with darkness after heavy rains interfered with power supply. Mr Twaha told the Business Daily he had been forced to conduct meetings at other places due to the poor state of the building in Mokowe.
He said they had forwarded a report to the National Construction Authority (NCA) and that they were waiting for a team of engineers to assess the building’s safety this week.
He said his office would then forward the NCA report and recommendations to the Senate to discuss and investigate the construction of the building during his predecessor Issa Timamy’s reign. “I suspect there was some form of corruption during construction. The building appears good to the eye, but it keeps leaking. Water has even penetrated its walls and destroyed electricity cables. That probably means the contract was awarded to an incapable company. I can’t work, my officers can’t work too.
“There is no electricity here after the connections blew out when they came in contact with the rainwater. This place leaks heavily whenever it rains to an extent that one can’t walk around,” said Mr Twaha. Locals have also demanded immediate investigations into the matter and the concerned people charged in accordance with the law.
“It’s unfortunate. We didn’t expect that at all. That’s taxpayers money which was spent in the construction of the Mokowe premises and it’s better for the matter to be looked into with the seriousness it deserves. We can’t just throw away the more than Sh200 million of taxpayers’ money,” said Mohamed Ali Shee, an elder in Lamu.
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