Suspend projects for this financial year and pay pending bills, Kisumu contractors say
By Dickson Odhiambo
December 11, 2019
Suspend projects for
this financial year and pay pending bills, Kisumu contractors say
VARIOUS contractors who have been doing business with the
County Government of Kisumu now want the development projects for this
financial year 2019/2020 be immediately suspended so as to pave way for payment
of their pending bills running to close to shs 2.5Billion.
The about 1,000 Contractors under the Kisumu Contractors and
Suppliers Association say the county Government of Kisumu is owing them huge
sums of money inform of pending bills hence should be paid before the implementation
of this financial year’s development projects.
Addressing the press in Kisumu today, the contractors led by
the Chairman of the pending Bills Sub Committee Maurice Onyango Aloo said the
issue of the County Government of Kisumu rolling out new projects for this
fiscal year without paying them the pending bills is not in order at all.
“We want the pending Bills paid fully before the County
Government of Kisumu embark on the implementation of this financial year’s
development projects. They are owing us about shs 2.5 billion,” they say.
The Contractors say they have really suffered as a result of
not being paid by the county Government, adding that they can’t even pay the
debts they owe to various banks as well as paying the Kenya Revenue Authority’s
taxes.
The contractors say they had already submitted a petition to
the county assembly of Kisumu so as to deliberate on how the pending bills
should be paid, adding that the Assembly has never deliberated on the issue nearly
six months ago.
“We have even tried to make a follow up to this petition
which we presented to the county Assembly of Kisumu during the days of the
Speaker Onyango Oloo but nothing has come out from there as a result of this
our petition,” they add.
But Kisumu County Assembly Acting Speaker Elisha Jack Oraro who
spoke to the press over the phone has indeed confirmed that the Assembly had
received the petition from the contractors concerning the pending bills but was
quick to blame the previous leadership of the Assembly of not giving the issue
a priority.
He says the Assembly has working on it and held talks with
the Executive wing of the county Government which agreed to freeze some of the
development projects so as to help in creating room for paying the pending
bills.
He adds that by the end of this month, they will receive a
list of the projects that will be frozen for the pending bills to be paid.
ENDS:
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