CBC contractors in Murang'a demand delayed payment

A group of contractors from Murang’a county want the national government to pay them for the classrooms they built for junior secondary schools last year.

The contractors said they were pushed to construct the second phase of classrooms in a hurry in line with the school calendar with the promise that they would be paid immediately their projects were approved.

But eight months later, the contractors who spoke in Murang’a town on Wednesday said they are yet to receive their pay and have accrued huge debts.

Jesee Mbuthia constructed two classrooms at Iyego Secondary School and one at Nyakahura Secondary School in Kangema subcounty.

With the low profit margins, Mbuthia said they did the projects as patriotic Kenyans, expressing disappointment that they have been forced to wait this long to be paid.

“About 19 classrooms that were constructed in the second phase of the project in Kangema are yet to be paid,” the constructor said, adding that each classroom was to be paid Sh788,000.

He said the payment delays have sunk their businesses as they are unable to embark on any new projects due to lack of capital.

They are also struggling to sustain their families, especially with the high cost of living that has heightened the prices of commodities.

“We are here to say we are in a bad place financially, even the people who depend on us at home and at work are going hungry,” Mbuthia said. 

“The current administration is a bottom-up government. Let it pay us our dues so that our lives can move on.”

Another contractor, Jane Waiyego, took money out of a tailoring and boutique business that she was running to construct one classroom.

She then borrowed money from friends and when that was still not enough, she took a loan from a financial institution.

“I was not worried. I knew I would be able to pay it back in a short while. I did the work as I was supposed to but now my business has sunk and I have to keep ducking my friends,” she said. 

Due to the stress she has undergone, Waiyego has since contracted hypertension, a condition she said she is now forced to manage using drugs.

On his part, Peter Muigai wondered what happened with the money that had been allocated for the project.

He said he has three children in secondary school that he is struggling to educate as his contracting business has been badly affected by the delayed payment.

“My company employs a number of youths who I work with, and who are now going hungry because I am unable to take up new projects,” Muigai said. 

He said their efforts to reach out to local directors of education have not yielded much fruit as they are only given assurances that their money is being processed.

“We’re asking anybody concerned to hear our cry so that our lives return to normalcy. When our businesses thrive, so many other people benefit from them.

When I was constructing the classrooms, I would receive phone calls from an array of government officials pressuring me to complete them as urgently as possible but the same people do not pick my phone calls now," he said. 

Muigai said the project has sunk them deeper into financial difficulties and that they have to keep giving explanations to the banks to avoid being auctioned, adding that because of the marginal profits they were to make, they are set to make losses due to the penalties their debts have accrued.

(edited by Amol Awuor)