Tracing the rise of dusty Sinapanga village in Bondo

Twenty years ago, Sinapanga village in Bondo, Siaya County was a low-key investment hub. A few homes dotted the bushy village.

People only knew of Bondo Teachers Training College, whose students were all accommodated within the institution, so no big fuss of private developers building hostels.

Today, the village hosts Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC). Residential, commercial buildings and hotels stand in the village - a sign of real estate boom that is happening across Bondo.

Increased demand for houses, business premises and rising rent due to fast economic growth is luring investors to Sinapanga.

It is located just half a kilometre north of Bondo’s Central Business District.

Augustine Adah, one of the pioneer residents, recalls that in early 2000, the land was idle and owners sold it to groups of people who subdivided it.

“I was born in this village and have lived here ever since but have never seen so much construction as it is happening now. New buildings are coming up nearly every month changing this small village rapidly,” said Adah.

According to Adah, concrete buildings have taken the places of mud-walled houses.

“Today, residents pay between Sh2, 000 and Sh3, 000 for a single-roomed house where they used to pay Sh500 a month in rent ten years ago,” says Adah.

He adds that buildings are sprouting up in the once sleepy village, with the area seemingly choking with real estate development.

Adah, who is a mason told Standard that the original landowners have sold their parcels and relocated to other places.

“People are disposing off their parcels at higher prices and move to areas where land is still very cheap,” he added.
Land prices in the village, as within Bondo's Central Business District (CBD), has been on the rise with an eighth acre going for up to Sh200, 000, from Sh10, 000 two decades ago.

Beatrice Oluoch, an investor who bought one acre of land in the village about 10 years ago at a cost of Sh150, 000 says she has the option of selling her land at a profit or developing it.

“Land has become hotcake here and I am reluctant to dispose of mine because I know the value it holds at the moment,” Oluoch says.

“Developers want to cash in on the real estate boom amid declining land sizes whose prices are on the rise. You cannot build bungalows and reap in a quarter and an eighth acres plot. One must utilize the space above, which is what the developers are doing,” explained Adah.

Allan Obiero, a journalist whose parents were the first indigenous families to settle in the area in the late 80s, said that the area was sparsely populated.

“There were several fields where we would go hunting for wild animals for meat. This happened for the better part of my teenage life until around early 2000 when we started seeing other people come to settle,” said Obiero.

Obiero attributed the immense growth to the establishment of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (Jooust) and the road network to Siaya, which passes in Sinapanga area.

He explained, “Another key pointer to the growth is none other than the advent of devolution which has seen several people come to settle around seeking modern accommodation, it has prompted property developers to set up modern housing units in the area.”

Obiero added that being the home of former Premier Raila Odinga, several urban development pointers like industries could soon be finding their way around given the proximity to Bondo town.

Other factors attracting real estate developers include improved infrastructure with nearly all the roads across the village getting upgrade and electricity supply.

Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (Jooust) Vice-Chancellor Prof Stephen Agong says that the institution's population has risen to at least 10, 000 since it became a fully-fledged university in 2013.

Erick Nyayiera, a resident, says the demand for land in the estate has continued to grow with the ongoing plans to elevate Bondo to town status alongside Siaya, Ukwala, Yala, and Usenge.

“Very few houses are unoccupied. Many people are expressing interest in buying a property in the estate, driving the prices higher. This has slowed down the rate at which land was being sold as some hold on anticipating for better prices,” says Nyayiera.

The growth of the estate, however, places the residents at a crossroads; juggling between maintaining their land as agricultural and developing it into commercial and residential properties.

"As much as the original landowners are willing to sell their parcels, conditions have forced them," said West Sakwa MCA Maurice Osewe, adding that they welcome investors in the area.