Gladys Wanga’s Administration Ordered to Reveal Homa Bay Headquarters Project Financing Records

The Commission on Administrative Justice, also known as the Office of the Ombudsman, has ordered the Homa Bay County Assembly and the County Government of Homa Bay to disclose information on the construction of the new county headquarters.

In a notice dated Friday October 9, the commission directed the Clerk of the County Assembly and the County Secretary to facilitate access to the requested records within 21 days from the date of the decision.

“The Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman) has ordered the Clerk of the County Assembly of Homa Bay and the County Secretary of the County Government of Homa Bay to facilitate access to information regarding the construction of the new County Government Headquarters within twenty-one (21) days,” read part of the statement.

The order follows applications for review filed by Katiba Institute after the two county institutions failed to provide information requested concerning the approval, financing and implementation of the headquarters project..

Katiba Institute Seeks Answers on Headquarters Project

According to the Ombudsman, Katiba Institute submitted a request for information on March 12, 2025, seeking documents detailing how the new county headquarters project was approved, financed and implemented.

The organisation requested records from both the County Assembly and the County Government to establish the legal and financial basis of the project.

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From the County Assembly, Katiba Institute sought certified Hansard reports showing proceedings during which the construction and an agreement with the County Pension Fund were approved.

It also requested minutes and reports from assembly committees that deliberated on the project, documents submitted by the county executive to support the deliberations, financial and implementation reports, and county laws forming the legal basis of the construction.

On the other hand, Katiba sought minutes of the County Executive Committee meeting that approved the project, as well as County Assembly approvals authorising the construction through a lease-to-own scheme or a similar financing arrangement.

Other requested documents included approvals authorising the county executive to raise loans or incur liabilities related to the project, national government approvals for the financing model, and agreements between the county government and the County Pension Fund.

Katiba Institute also sought a report detailing the project’s financial obligations to the county government and residents, including contingent liabilities, alongside an update on the project’s implementation status.

Ombudsman Warns HomaBay Officials of Possible Criminal Prosecution

The Commission on Administrative Justice said it received Katiba Institute’s applications for review on January 26, 2026, and subsequently issued notices to the two county institutions requiring them to submit reports and relevant documents.

However, the County Assembly of Homa Bay did not respond to the commission’s notice or submit the requested report within the stipulated period even after requesting an additional month to compile the documents.

As a result, Ombudsman proceeded to determine the applications based on the information available to it, as permitted under Section 23(3)(a)(i) of the Access to Information Act, 2016.

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Therefore, in its determination, the commission established that both the County Assembly and the County Government are public entities with obligations to facilitate access to information under Article 35 of the Constitution and the Access to Information Act.

The commission noted that the information concerned the utilisation of public resources and fell within the categories of information subject to proactive disclosure under Section 5 of the Access to Information Act.

It also affirmed that Katiba Institute was entitled to seek the records under the law and therefore, the County Assembly could not rely on provisions of the County Assemblies Powers and Privileges Act to withhold its proceedings’ records in their entirety.

It added that the possibility that some documents contained legally exempt information did not justify withholding the entire records.

The commission warned that failure to comply with the directive would prompt it to recommend criminal prosecution against the two officials under Section 28 of the Access to Information Act, 2016.

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