'You can’t say you built a hospital but it collapsed and sank and then the grass grew at the site'
Image: NDICHU WAINAINA
Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia has said he will not pay Sh900 million the county owes contractors.
Treasury has threatened to withhold funds for 15 counties that have not cleared their pending bills.
Speaking during the International Anti-Corruption Day celebrations at Ol Kalou Stadium, Kimemia said his administration will not pay for the bills incurred by the previous regime.
“When I became the governor, I was told to pay between Sh700 million and Sh900 million pending bills. I said I will not pay. We cannot have sh900 million pending bills," Kimemia said.
He was reacting to Nyandarua county assembly speaker Wahome Ndegwa who said contractors' assets were being auctioned because the county government had declined to pay them for projects.
The speaker said when work has been done and certificates of completion issued by county work officers, it should not take the county governments over two years to pay. He claimed the contractors were not paid because of corruption, saying county officials were demanding commission to process payment.
“It is killing our people. We know of people who have been auctioned in Nyandarua. We know that people have been auctioned in Nakuru. Everywhere across this country, our people are being auctioned for doing business with the government," Ndegwa said.
“If you are not paying our contractors, please tell them so. They will go to court and you will be forced to pay.”
But Kimemia said he cannot be pushed to pay for ghost projects that will put him in trouble with the law in future.
“I am not a fool and I will not be pushed to do things that will haunt me in old age after I retire just like my predecessor Daniel Waithaka who is facing a court case over Tahal Water Project. The real culprits who stole that money are roaming freely making noise about corruption. We need to be serious about corruption. We should not call ourselves Mr. Perfect or Mr. Clean yet we symbolise corruption," Kimemia said.
Kimemia said two-thirds of the projects for which payment is being demanded are fake. The genuine ones, he said, will be factored in the supplementary budget. He said there is room for the contractors who still think they delivered some projects and need to be paid to appeal.
The governor said he was ready to go with the contractors to the ground for them to show him projects they undertook. He said he was not going to allow people to falsify projects to get paid.
Those claiming to have built roads, ECD classes, and hospitals, he said, should show where they are. “You can’t say you built a hospital but it collapsed and sank and then the grass grew at the site," Kimemia said.
The celebration was attended by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission vice-chairperson Sophia Lepuchirit, EACC chairperson for enforcement committee Paul Gachoka, the agency's Central region boss Charles Lasugu and Laikipia Deputy Governor John Mwaniki.
Lepuchirit asked the county leaders to unite and work harmoniously for their own good. “Your excellency sir, honourable speaker, and all the members of the county assembly I would like to tell you that unity is power," Lepuchirit said
She said EACC will not spare anyone while dealing with matters of corruption. She said the commission receives reports sometimes from the county bosses or their staff asking for certain matters to be probed.
“When EACC gets into investigations, they don’t care who brought what. They will come for all of you. It is better that you work harmoniously," she said
Nyandarua county commissioner Boaz Cherutich asked residents to preach peace and unity, saying conflicts will stagnate development.
“If the political conflict persists, we in the national government shall not intervene. We shall sit back and watch from a distance. That will retard development," Cherutich said.
edited by peter obuya
Image: NDICHU WAINAINA
