Contractors within Kisumu county have alleged a scheme to fight the county secretary John Auma who has kicked off a process to ensure only genuine contractors are paid their pending bills.
Under the Kisumu Contractors and Suppliers Association, the contractors said the new county secretary has been in the spotlight over his stand to ensure only work done is paid.
According to one of the contractors Bernard Ombiri, the county secretary is aware of a scheme where past files are paid yet they had been cleared in the past.
Ombiri claimed that three such files were discovered and their payments stopped as investigations are carried out.
“Some of the county employees are up in arms against the county secretary through proxies, who are out to intimidate and threaten him for stopping the payments of such files,” he claimed.
Addressing a press conference in Kisumu, the chairman of the contractors Maurice Aloo, who is a former MCA for Ahero ward however accused the county Assembly of failing to assist them to have their pending bills paid out.
Aloo told the Assembly Speaker Elisha Oraro to stop pampering Governor Anyang Nyong’o administration and carry out their oversight role.
He noted that over time, they have reached out to the Assembly to help them without no success.
“With what has been going on, I want to announce that we will throw our weight behind the county secretary in the wake of planned attacks and intimidation on him."
James Oyolo, a former councillor, who is also a contractor, told Governor Nyong’o to stop ignoring their pleas and help them.
Oyolo noted that their attempts to meet the Governor to express their grievances have not been granted.
Aloo said the county owed them Sh2 billion in pending bills but when contacted the county executive member for finance George Okong’o said the bill was at Sh1.7 billion.
He said the county made fresh payments totalling Sh400 million.
Also in a statement to media houses, the county government appealed to the contractors and suppliers to be patient, reiterating their commitment to pay them as soon as money is released from the national government.
The chief officer for Public Communication John Oywa noted that there has not been disbursement from December 2022, January, February and March 2023.
“This delay in disbursement is not just for Kisumu county but for all county governments in the republic of Kenya,” he said.
