Residents still await Sh12b cement factory, eight years on

The investors from India were to put up a factory complete with staff houses, schools, a medical and staff training centre. [Photo: Courtesy]

When former Prime Minister Raila Odinga launched construction of a cement factory in the pastoral West Pokot County, locals knew they had got a new lease of life.

The project to be put up by investors from India, would also open up the region that had lagged behind in development following years of marginalisation.

The investors were to put up a Sh12 billion factory complete with staff houses, schools, a medical and staff training centre on a 650-acre farm.  

Covered with shrubs

But since the launch at Sebit in July 2010, work is yet to take off. Nearly a decade later, the parcel of land is covered with shrubs, yet it had been cleared of vegetation to pave way for the factory.

When the project was launched, a number of businesses set up rental houses hoping to accommodate workers from the construction. 

Cemtech Sanghai was granted rights by the Government and the West Pokot County administration to extract limestone and manufacture cement; but as the days turned to years, no works began, disappointing a community, infamously associated with cattle rustling.

Today, prime land in the area whose value had risen, no longer attracts the interest of potential buyers, with the township remaining largely inactive.

“There seems to have been a hidden agenda. Our patience is running out. We were informed that the plant would be operational immediately after the launch but that has not happened,” says Nicholus Lokeris a local. 

Ms Mary Lorwama, a local, laments that two different investors turned up for construction of the cement factory, and that leaders need to agree on who will set up the facility. 

“This is a goldmine. Our people expect to benefit from the riches of their ancestral land, as the cost of land among other assets will go up. But the delay is worrying. We want the investor to start work to enhance opportunities for us locals,” says Lorwama. 

Not surprisingly, the anticipated cement company has since become a campaign tool as aspirants running for various positions often promise to set up the company if elected.

West Pokot County Executive Committee member for trade, Monges Lotodo says the authorities sought audience with the Ministry of Mining a month ago concerning the delayed plant.

“We have convened a meeting with the investors; the public will be involved so that they can tell us the plans they have for the county. The meeting to be held in two months time should shed light on the way