In Homa Bay County, the sharp difference between neglected schools and the luxurious new county headquarters has sparked growing anger over Governor Gladys Wanga’s leadership.
While she proudly commissioned the new Sh 820 million county offices with President William Ruto present, the project’s financing has been mired in controversy.
Funded through a loan from the County Pension Fund, critics argue it bypassed constitutional requirements such as obtaining a national government guarantee and proper county assembly approval.
What began as a Sh 520 million plan mysteriously rose by an extra Sh 300 million without clear public justification. To add to the outrage, a factory worth over Sh 100 million was demolished to create space for the offices, wiping out local jobs.
Residents say this is a perfect example of leadership chasing luxury while ignoring urgent community needs.
At the same time, schools like Kodida Primary are in a dire state. With 446 pupils, the school has crumbling classrooms, no proper administration block, and only two shared latrines for both teachers and students.
Many lessons are held under trees because of collapsing walls and leaking roofs. Water access is almost non-existent, forcing pupils to walk three kilometers to fetch dirty water from a swamp, risking diseases like bilharzia and cholera.
For girls, lack of sanitary supplies and clean water means missing school days, further hurting their education.
A small tank donated by a charity barely meets a fraction of the need, and community contributions cannot cover the massive gap left by the county government’s inaction.
The criticism doesn’t stop there. Residents accuse Wanga of pouring Sh 250 million into a political celebration for her ODM chair position while claiming funds are scarce.
Others allege she is building a multimillion-shilling mansion in Karen using taxpayer resources, all while dodging hard questions and silencing critics.
The headquarters loan, which will burden the county for 30 years, stands in painful contrast to the decaying schools that could have been rebuilt and equipped for a fraction of that cost.
Many see this as a failure of priorities. The money spent on the grand county offices could have repaired dozens of schools, drilled boreholes for clean water, and provided better learning facilities.
Instead, bureaucratic comfort appears to have been placed above children’s education and well-being. Wanga campaigned on promises to uplift Homa Bay, but residents argue that actions like these only show neglect and misplaced focus.
Without a serious shift towards addressing the real needs of the people, especially the youth, her leadership risks being remembered not for progress but for abandoning the very people she was elected to serve.
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