Governor Joshua Irungu has announced that the Laikipia County government’s headquarters will be relocated from Nanyuki in Laikipia East to Rumuruti in Laikipia West in two months.
Residents have been lobbying officials to relocate government offices to Rumuruti, which is located in the county’s center.
Though Rumuruti is the gazetted county headquarters, officials have been based in Nanyuki since devolution began.
Governor Irungu stated that his administration will begin operations in January from its Sh60 million headquarters in Rumuruti.
“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.
Despite the fact that construction on the offices in Rumuruti began six years ago and was completed three years later, efforts to relocate there were met with opposition from some Nanyuki businesspeople.
The traders contended that Nanyuki was already developed and that the county government did not need to spend additional funds to construct new offices in Rumuruti.
The Laikipia County Assembly passed a motion in February 2014 to relocate the county government and its offices from Nanyuki to Rumuruti.
Residents argued that moving services closer to them would be beneficial.
The rapidly changing face of Rumuruti municipality has attracted investors, transforming the town into a real estate and vacation destination.
Infrastructure upgrades have also sparked a land subdivision frenzy and a flurry of property sales as real estate firms pitch tents in town to meet rising demand from buyers looking to build houses.
