CBC contractors plead for payment

Embu, Wednesday April 26, 2023  

K.N.A By Justus Anzaya

Contractors who built CBC classes in Embu county risk auction, following delayed payment from the government.

Consequently, the contractors are unable to take up any other works, because their seed capital has been withheld.

 “We were promised prompt payment upon completion of the work, but one year down the line, no penny has come our way,” lamented Steven Muriuki, one of the contractors. 

 Muriuki, who is a seasoned local contractor, speaking on behalf of his colleagues, said this unwarranted delay in the payment of their dues had exposed them to an impending auction, besides ridicule in the eyes of the public.   

He further noted with concern that the bulk of pending bills in the country, affected the very small contractors who are normally left behind, when well established contractors arm twist government officers to pay their bills on time.

"Most of the struggling contractors who constructed the CBC classrooms, cannot even afford litigation in a court of law to push for payments, bearing in mind they were to make a paltry 80,000 per class" Muriuki added.

Another contractor, Dr. Gerard Ireri decried that they have also been slapped with the challenge of paying their employees, despite an earlier state policy that CBC classrooms construction was a special government project that would not be taxed. 

"The Ministry of works did the BQ on behalf of the Ministry of Education, who were the project managers and did not list taxation as required, and therefore you cannot blame the contractors. We are now surprised since after calculation, the class would cost approximately Sh700,000, while the government was supposed to pay Sh788,000 for every class," said Dr. Ireri.

He also noted that the additional tax that was never included in the initial agreements, will see all contractors make huge losses.

Therefore, if forced to pay the new tax and resultant penalties from banks where many of US had secured loans, then it means we will make a loss of about 20 percent, meaning we will have to dig deeper into our pockets, added Ireri.

The contractors are now appealing to the government to fast track disbursement of payment so that they can foot the accrued bills, take up new jobs and also fend for their families.

Courtesy K.N.A