Kiambu PWDs demand payment of Sh 3.8m pending bill

A group of visually impaired persons granted a road rehabilitation works tender in early 2022 has protested the lack of payment of over Sh3.8 million by the Kiambu county government.

The group led by Benson Nderitu on Friday stormed governor Kimani Wamatangi's office in Kiambu town where they sought an audience to highlight their plight.

Nderitu said that their company named Benns Company Limited won a tender for rehabilitating 1.5 kilometres of Thegetieni access road in Limuru central Kiambu county (tender No. 904288) FY 2021/2022.

The tender notice had been published on November 9, 2021, during former governor James Nyoro's tenure.

The tender was processed and the work commencement nod was given on March 9, 2022.

The contractors were to be paid Sh3,838,788 upon completion.

A completion certificate was issued by the Kiambu county government after the inspection of the rehabilitation of the road works by a surveyor Henry Muriuki on June 16, 2022.

Nderitu speaking to the media said that Governor Wamatangi gave them an audience and listened to their plight and were promised that their pending bill will be paid next week.

"We have visited the county government headquarters to book an appointment with the governor. It is a great mistake when we are discriminated against as we hear that pending bills have been paid yet we have not been paid. Persons with disabilities should also be treated with dignity as other abled persons," Nderitu said.

He said that he has followed the right channels in applying for the tender and also in seeking his pay.

"I have tried to get to the governor more than 15 times to no avail but now we have met and we have discussed with him overpayments and has promised that we will get paid," Nderitu said.

Frasiah Mwangi said that she was a partner in the tender and contributed over Sh1 million so as to rehabilitate the said road but upon competition, the county government failed to pay them.

"It is hard for a person with a disability to get over Sh1 million to honour a tender let alone to apply for a tender with the county government and be awarded. We completed our work last year but we have not been paid," Mwangi said.

She said that she is a mother of two and has undergone suffering since she cannot pay school fees or fend for her family yet she used her money hoping for a return in rehabilitating a county government road.

"I stay in a rental house. I have two children in school who I am paying fees for. I went to the bank and withdrew my money since we had won a tender to rehabilitate a road. We completed and the inspection team approved it.  It has become a challenge since we have not been paid despite our numerous pleas to the county government executive," Mwangi said.

Ignitious Agan faulted the county government employees at the county government headquarters for blocking them to seek an audience with the governor.

"Why are we blocked to see the governor simply because we are disabled? We have been here again but we get hurdles. We are glad that we got to speak with the governor and now we hope that we will be paid,' Agan said.

Governor Wamatangi said that the protesters were awarded tender during the former regime and they completed works but were never paid.

"They are part of thousands of contractors and suppliers who did business with the county government during the previous regimes but were never paid," Wamatangi said.

The governor said that he is committed to clearing the pending bills and has so far cleared Sh600 million out of the Sh7 billion he inherited from the previous regimes.

He said that he has developed a framework to clear the outstanding bills, saying he intends to be paying Sh2 billion per year.

Further, the governor has said that to ensure the county doesn't contain accumulating pending bills, his administration has been procuring projects, goods and services budgeted for.

Payments have been happening within 14 days.

"We don't owe any contractor or supplier who has done business with the county since I took office. We have been paying them within 14 days. Accepting delivery of goods and services or failing to pay a contractor upon the completion of a project is a fraud because it's obtained with false pretence," Wamatangi said.