Four directors have been appointed to the board of Kenya’s Konza Technopolis Development Authority, ahead of the official ground-breaking billed for next week.

The country’s Information Minister Samuel Poghisio has appointed Rosemary Maundu, Emma Miloyo and Reuben Mutiso – both architects – and Haron Nyakudni, a building economist, to the board of the development which is set to be Kenya’s first technology city.

The board will be chaired by John Ngumi, who was appointed personally by President Mwai Kibaki in December of last year.  An investment banker by trade, it is intended that Ngumi will take the lead in drawing in investors to the Technopolis.

Meanwhile, the board is expected to act as the regulating body linking the development group – which will be led by an executive team – and the government.

With the board in place, the hunt will begin to find a suitable Chief Executive Officer for Konza, and the selection process will start to put together a qualified executive team.

It is the executive team which will be responsible for overseeing the extensive project, and will conduct monitoring and evaluation activities of the project as it develops, while the team will also be the regulating body for the Technopolis.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the 850 billion Kenyan Shilling ($9.7 billion) technology park will take place on January 23, having already been postponed from the original date set for last April following the need to undertake re-planning of certain areas within the technology park’s site.

Delays have also been experienced in the acquiring of the necessary legal documentation approving the project, and registering the Development Authority.