Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Wisley Rotich has threatened to publicly name and shame county staff involved in demanding 10 percent kickbacks and other bribes in order to award contracts.
Rotich said such staff will also face prosecution.
The governor also warned staff against awarding contracts to themselves and their cronies and engaging in unprocedural tendering, which he said compromises service delivery.
Rotich said he would personally lead the war against graft in the county in order to ensure that residents get good services and value for public money given to the county.
He said public servants must be satisfied with the salaries and allowances they earn and that those who feel not satisfied should quit to pave way for those ready to serve.
"I am aware there are staff who ask for 10 per cent from contractors so that they can award tenders. Such staff risk prosecution and public shaming," the county chief said.
He said awarding projects verbally, receiving kickbacks, collusion with contractors, demanding money from contractors before paying them and issuing certificates of completion for incomplete projects are some of the illegal acts which amount to crime.
“If you plan to participate in such illegal practices then you will not have any space in my administration,” the governor said.
Rotich was addressing staff at the county headquarters during a meeting with all employees, including those from both the county headquarters and subcounties to formulate new standard operating procedure (Sops) on implementation of projects.
The meeting focused on Sops which will address past challenges of delayed projects procurement and implementation, low absorption rates, shoddy work, conflict of interest, malpractices in project verification and payment, among other issues.
The meeting came following a project verification exercise that the governor ordered last month across the county to establish the status of projects in all the 20 wards.
The exercise revealed that some of the projects had been poorly done while others were not completed yet full payments had been made.
Among the projects flagged include Kabirirsus ECD, where contractor is alleged to have done shoddy work.
"It is unfortunate that someone authorised payments to a contractor whose building is almost collapsing. This is what kickbacks can do," Rotich said.
The county chief said the purpose of the meeting was also to enhance the operational efficiency of staff in projects implementation and to re-engineer procedures used in the county for efficiency and effectiveness.
“We will be keen on quality work on all projects and no payment will be made before proper inspection is done,” the governor said.
The county, he said, would ensure prompt payments for contractors, especially those who have completed their projects satisfactorily.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
