Construction firms have until March 26 to bid for the Ksh135 million ($1.35 million) Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) headquarters building in Kisumu.

A pre-bidding conference will be conducted on March 3 at the LVBC offices, and all bidders will visit the construction site. The successful contractor will be announced on March 26, the day bidding closes.

According to a meeting of senior government officials from EAC member states and the EAC secretariat led by Secretary-General Liberat Mfumukeko, held in Kisumu recently, plans for the construction are now confirmed. It will be the EAC’s most influential institution in Kenya to date and will be built on a 2.8-hectare piece of land fronting Lake Victoria on Nkrumah Road.

The meeting was held under the auspices of the ninth joint regional policy steering committee for LVBC projects and programmes on February 14.

“Kenya’s Ministry of Public Works did all the designs and the project is set to take off,” said LVBC executive secretary Ally-Said Matano.

LVBC is charged with the mandate to promote, facilitate and co-ordinate activities of different actors towards sustainable development and poverty eradication of the Lake Victoria Basin on behalf of EAC partner states.

Upon completion, the headquarters will save the commission millions of shillings currently spent on renting office space.