The
decision by Trans Nzoia governor Patrick Khaemba to freeze payments on all
contractors pending a forensic audit has left ghost contractors and their
cartels in government offices in utter trepidation.
Efforts
by the contractors to sweet-talk the governor and armtwist his decision have
similarly hit the wall with Khaemba standing firm.
Road
contractors in the county will have to wait a little longer to access more than
Sh1b development fund earmarked for this financial year until a team of
inspectors from the departments confirm the actual works on the ground against
their claims.
“The
boss has made it categorically clear that no contractor big or small will be
paid until the inspectorate team visits sites and verify what has happened on
the ground. He has similarly invited members of county assembly and other
interested leaders to accompany the team on a mission to establish the truth.
His cardinal point to them is, ‘go to your work station and wait, if you have
delivered, there is no cause for alarm, but otherwise, sorry’,” said a source
familiar with the ongoings.
And
the governor made good his threat to kickstart the exercise by touring roads
done in Endebess last week where he was shocked to discover that only about a
third of kilometres claimed had actually been touched on the ground.
“At
this rate, it would appear that less than 400 kilometres out of the 1,200
kilometres the contractors are claiming have actually been done,” disclosed a
source in the governor’s itinerary
As
a result, Khaemba has directed the new minister in charge of public works to
cancel all the local supply orders issued to the contractors and prepare new
ones for those who will be confirmed to have actually delivered as per the
agreements.
The
cancellation of the contracts which has been received with warmly by a cross
section of citizens from all walks of life was preceded by a major shake-up in
the public works ministry and the finance docket where previously untouchables
Lewis Ndombi and Andrew Wanyonyi were moved.
Khaemba
noted that some roads were actually being claimed by more than two contractors
and blamed some staff within the public works docket for facilitating the
duplication,
The
governor noticed to his dismay that some of the contractors who have been
claiming more than Sh200 million had nothing to show on the ground.
“We
have made a firm commitment to serve the residents of Trans Nzoia and this will
not be possible if contractors collude with civil servants to fleece the county
government,” he said
He
later led his team to Kiminini,
Cherengany and Kwanza.
Among
the riddles his mission intend to unravel is how some people were paid in the
last financial year without any service on the ground and how some roads were
allocated more than three contractors who were all claiming dues from the
county government
Investigations
revealed that some ghost contractors could be demanding over Sh600 million in
the wake of huge development funds anticipated in the county kitty after
president accented to the revenue bill last week.
The
changes effected in the ministry of public works and finance also after
junior cadre staff whom had been crucial cog in the wheels of the corrupt
dealings in the two departments were affected.
Khaemba
moved to dismantle endemic cartels within his government by transferring
suspected graft-ridden ministers to lesser profile portfolios while
instituting a probe that may see several heads roll over corruption connected
scandals.
And
in an apparent display of tactics of a man who is quickly learning the
political ropes, the often quiet administrator with a mien of an
internationally trained banking background last week crashed a simmering
discontent by the targeted officers who wished to enlist support from members
of the public through demonstrations curtail his onslaught on corrupt
officers.
He
organised several fora of different opinion leaders from different walks of
life and managed to silence his critics.
Andrew
Wanyonyi, who is believed to be behind numerous scandals rotating all
ministries, was moved from the glamorous finance portfolio to agriculture
attracting tirades of fireworks from a cartel who thought that their kingpin
was untouchable.
Wanyonyi
had earlier vowed to quit rather than be subjected “to disgrace” initially and
defiantly refused to take the transfer letter arguing that as a person who was
involved in Khaemba’s campaigns, “he was more of a political partner and co
principal than a cabinet employee”.
“These
changes, if at all it is true, will backfire and boomerang on the governor.
Some of us are such an important cog in his political wheel that we would
better remain inside his administration pissing outside than be in the cold for
we will definitely piss inside his camp. We abandoned serious careers to
come and mould this county and should not be subjected to this humiliation,” he
was quoted lamenting recently.
He
went further to incite the youth, some of whom he had irregularly dished out
county tenders to storm to the streets but the governor nipped him in the bud
by putting in place counter measures that left the former purse man isolated.
This
prompted Wanyonyi’s sidekicks to harass other officers and as we went to press,
one junior officer was recording a statement to explain why he was harassing
staff members amid claims that Wanyonyi had put a staggering Sh1.2 million at
the officer’s bank account
But
unmoved, the governor replaced the finance boss with the grassroots
connected former health boss Ken Simiyu who is said to have mastered the role
of youth mobilisation as a major specialisation in his post graduate studies.
Khaemba
also brought on board Bishop Julius Mbagaya who
contested for the Kiminini parliamentary seat. Mbagaya is the new chief
of staff taking over from Ronald Masindano.
It
is through Mbagaya’s church that the
governor managed to secure a meeting of 700 church leaders within a notice of
two days and before long, the message of ridding the county off corrupt
dinosaurs was reverberating across all the main churches in the county
During
the changes, Ndombi was moved to health where he replaced Simiyu. His position
was taken by Kiiya who paved way for Wanyonyi at the agriculture docket
Ndombi’s
exit marked a proper reorganisation at a sector where corruption and mediocrity
was the order of the day.
Under
Ndombi-Wanyonyi nexus, tricksters taking advantage of the governor’s
determination to open up all rural roads employed all manner of tricks to rob
the taxpayers.
“We
saw the employees pay bogus contractors for services not rendered at
exaggerated prices obviously under instructions from senior officers in the
county public works office and the finance department,” disclosed a worker
conversant with the ongoings.
The
source said the same officers routinely passed roads done by the Kenya
Rural Roads Authority and Kura as those advertised by the county
government and paid bogus contractors who later shared the spoils.
Such
were the investigations that led Khaemba to make the changes at the two
departments of public works and finance at the increased risk to kicking out
his former cronies.
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