The grand plan to build a modern and expansive port in Lamu to serve a host of countries and enhance regional trade was a noble idea.
However, the reality is beginning to dawn that it may not have been well thought through.
Questions have to be asked now. Was this a viable project in the first place? Was there a proper feasibility study with accurate advisory on financials and timelines? What does this mean for other projects in the future?
Conceived and launched with fanfare under the Grand Coalition government in 2012, the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) Corridor was planned as a mega infrastructure project comprising a modern port, a rail and road network, and international airports in Lamu, Isiolo and Lodwar.
Geographically, the Sh2.4 trillion project was to create a multi-transport corridor linking up Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Brazzaville.
However, what is obtaining on the ground is painfully sobering: the project may not realise that grand objective.
After seven years, various components of the project have not taken off and may not in the foreseeable future.
The first berth at the Lamu Port is complete and can start operations, but that cannot happen because the roads linking it with the hinterland have not been built.
In Isiolo, an international airport that forms a key pillar of the corridor is complete but lying idle due to minimal human and cargo traffic, bringing to question its continued sustainability.
Various road networks that link the port to diverse destinations have either not started or stalled due to lack of funding, inept contractors and waning commitment.
These are the reasons President Uhuru Kenyatta has expressed disappointment with the project, which is the feeling among the public as well.
At conception it looked promising, but the current reality is different. Countries that signed up have since changed course and are pursuing other interests.
Ethiopia, a major partner, has shifted interest to Djibouti Port, which, due to proximity, makes economic sense.
Uganda and Rwanda have variously oscillated between working with Kenya or Tanzania, signalling that we are not the only option, and therefore not indispensable.
Lapsset demonstrates the folly of venturing into major infrastructure projects without proper investment plans.
Huge sums of money are being invested without commensurate returns.
The standard gauge railway, completed two years ago, is making losses. It is time to review the status of the Lapsset project and determine what ought to be done to rescue it.
