Migori Governor Dr. Ochilo Ayacko’s 2026 State of the County address paints the picture of an administration pursuing one of the most ambitious infrastructure drives in Migori’s devolved history.
With multi-billion-shilling investments spanning health, roads, industrialization, markets, and sports, the county appears firmly in construction mode.
Yet beneath the impressive portfolio lies a growing concern, a significant portion of the governor’s flagship projects remain incomplete, heavily co-funded, or dependent on pending disbursements, raising questions about execution risks ahead of the 2027 general elections, where he seeks to retain his seat.
In his adress read on February 11, 2026 at the migori county assembly, Ayacko highlighted among the administration’s most high-profile projects including the upgrade of Migori County Referral Hospital to Level 5, budgeted at KSh 500 million, alongside the upgrade of eight sub-county hospitals to Level 4 status at KSh 450 million.
Additionally, he revealed that the county has allocated KSh 500 million for the establishment of 40 model health centres (one per ward), KSh 500 million for countywide digitization of health facilities, and KSh 700 million for a 10,000-seater stadium co-funded by the national governement, currently at 82% completion.
Furthermore, he added that KSh 500 million has been allocated for the County Aggregation and Industrial Park (CAIP) in Nyatike, now 85% complete, KSh 550 million for the construction of 10 ESP markets across all sub counties and KSh 920 million for the 14km Awendo Junction–Kanyimach road upgrade to bitumen.
Ayacko also noted that KSh 361 million under the FLocca climate resilience programme is awaiting disbursement.
Collectively, these projects represent a capital pipeline worth several billions of shillings, spread largely across the 2023/24, 2024/25, and 2025/26 financial years.
However, the financing structure of these projects reveals layered funding dependencies.
For instance the construction of Migori County Stadium valued at 700M, the CAIP valued at KSh 500M and the ESP Markets are funded through national government support.
Similarly,the FLocca Programme valued at KSh 361M includes a KSh 228M from a development partner and KSh 133M from the County government, with the funds from the partners yet to be disbursed.
Under the World Bank Performance for Results (P4R) framework, Migori has received KSh 37.5 million, with potential to access up to KSh 452 million, pending further assessment.
While co-financing can be argued to expand county’s capacity to deliver its promises to its citizens , it also introduces vulnerability.
In the event of delayed or slow donor disbursements, or shifting national priorities, these projects could not see the light.
Currently, the regimes several flagship projects are hovering in the 80–85% completion range.
However, political and development history in the region suggests that projects nearing completion are not immune to delays.
Final stages often require additional financing, technical clearance, or operational staffing and political realignments, all of which demand liquidity.
Moreover, critically, completion does not equal operationalization.
A case of a Level 5 hospital without specialist staffing, or an industrial park without investor uptake risks becoming symbolic infrastructure rather than transformative assets.
Amids the Fiscal Pressure and Pending Bills, the governor noted that county’s own-source revenue has grown from KSh 386 million in 2022 to KSh 709 million in 2025, a notable achievement.
However, as of the start of the 2025/26 financial year, Migori’s pending bills stood at KSh 837 million.
By December 2025, the county had reduced this to KSh 618 million, after paying KSh 218 million.
Despite Governor Ayacko’s pledge to clear all eligible pending bills by June 2026, fiscal observations shows that clearing KSh 618 million in outstanding obligations while simultaneously financing billion-shilling capital projects requires stable cash flow.
The health sector alone carries over KSh 1.45 billion in proposed upgrades, excluding digitization.
This is something counties historically struggle with due to delayed national transfers.
With less than two years before the 2027 elections, the administration faces a narrowing window to convert high-value capital projects into fully functional public assets.
If the stadium, CAIP, major road upgrades, and hospital expansions are completed and operational before 2027, the governor will have a formidable development record.
However, if several flagship projects remain in the “ongoing” category, critics could argue that the administration prioritized scale over sequencing.
It can be noted that Governor Ayacko’s tenure has been characterized by aggressive capital investment and visible construction activity.
Revenue growth and reduction of pending bills show improved financial discipline.
Yet the administration’s development model hinges on timely completion of pending mega-projects and sustained external funding flows.
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