Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro, his deputy Flora Chibule, Matsangoni ward Member of County Assembly (MCA) Hassan Mohamed Our County Headquarters, County Executive Committee Members (CECM) Philip Charo of Finance and Omar Said of Water inspect construction of the county headquarters in Kilifi town. photo by Ben Okweingoti. 
By Ben Okweingoti
The Kilifi County Government has issued a stern warning to contractors who have delayed the completion of development projects, saying their contracts will be suspended or terminated if they fail to comply with set timelines.
Governor Gideon Mung’aro made the remarks while inspecting the construction of the new Kilifi County headquarters in Kilifi town, a project valued at over Sh500 million. Once completed, the facility is expected to save the county millions of shillings currently spent on renting office space for county staff.
Governor Mung’aro said his administration is undertaking a comprehensive review of all ongoing and stalled projects across the county to determine their viability, amid rising concerns over pending bills.
“We are taking stock of all projects, and we will cancel contracts for contractors who have failed to complete works on time or who did not seek extensions as required by law,” Mung’aro said.
He noted that delayed projects have contributed significantly to the accumulation of pending bills, adding that only viable and well-managed projects will be allowed to proceed.
The governor also acknowledged challenges facing counties in adapting to the national government’s newly introduced procurement system, which he said is still in its early stages of implementation.
“We have trained 133 county employees on the new procurement system, but many county governments are still relying on the old manual systems. That is partly why we did not perform well in the recent rankings. However, once we fully roll out procurement for new projects under the new system, our performance will improve,” he said.
On his part, the contractor overseeing the construction of the county headquarters, Mr Christopher Kiuro, assured residents that the project is on track and will be completed by June 2026.
The new county headquarters is expected to enhance service delivery while reducing operational costs for the Kilifi County Government.
