The venue of the France-Africa Summit expected to be held in May is likely to be shifted from Bomas to the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) owing to delays in construction, an insider who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, told The Kenyan Wall Street on Monday.
- •The possible relocation mirrors fears by Members of Parliament who doubted the completion of the Ksh 42 billion convention complex slated to host the diplomatic summit.
- •According to submissions made to the National Assembly Committee on Tourism and Wildlife, only 35% of the Bomas upgrade has been completed.
- •MPs told the committee they had received information that a French delegation had already inspected the KICC as an alternative venue, reinforcing speculation that organizers are preparing a fallback option.
The timeline has been further complicated by a labour dispute at the construction site that had slowed work at a critical stage of the project, the insider added. Workers involved in the construction of the Bomas International Convention Complex staged a strike over delayed payments and poor working conditions.
The day-long protest by the construction workers on 16 March brought traffic along Lang’ata Road to a standstill after the death of a colleague. Workers said the incident was not isolated and claimed that several others had died since construction began, while injuries remained frequent due to what they described as inadequate safety gear.
Last week, Kajiado Senator Kanar Seki formally called for Senate intervention, asking the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare to investigate working conditions at the site following the complaints from workers. In his request to the Senate committee, Seki asked for a detailed assessment of whether the project complies with occupational safety and labour regulations. He also sought a full disclosure of any workplace accidents reported since construction began and a review of employment conditions including contracts, wages, and working hours.
More than 2,000 workers are currently deployed at the site, operating in shifts, but the temporary work stoppage forced sections of the project to stop temporarily and added pressure to an already compressed construction schedule.
The Bomas International Convention Complex is expected to become one of the largest conference facilities in Africa once completed. It will sit on a 12-acre site and is designed to accommodate roughly 11,000 people including a 5,000-seat convention hall, a 3,500-seat auditorium and a presidential lounge reserved for high-level delegations.
KICC has emerged as the most practical fallback option for the summit's hosting as it already has the capacity, security infrastructure, and experience needed to handle large international delegations on short notice.
The France - Africa summit is being positioned as an important platform that will focus on trade, investment partnerships, and deeper engagement between Paris and African economies. It will be the first of the summits to be held in an Anglophone country.
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