Embu County to lose Ksh 250 million over tender cancellation

Embu County to lose Ksh 250 million over tender cancellation

The Embu County Assembly may lose up to Ksh 250 million over the cancellation of a tender already awarded to a contractor.

The County Assembly is said to have cancelled a legally binding tender awarded to Landor and Associate Contractors to construct a five storey County Assembly office complex.

Reports indicate that the tender was cancelled following political differences between members of the assembly.

The contractor then moved to court in agitation seeking damages over what he termed as breach of contract by the county assembly.

Should he (the contractor) be successful, he will pocket the monies without doing any work since the contract was legally binding.

However, Embu Speaker Mate Kariuki says someone will have to be surcharged should the county lose the funds as a result of political machinations.

He said that the county government cannot sit down and watch as the tax payers money goes down the drain.

Kariuki added that though the office complex is not a priority for the county, it offered better value for money than awarding the contractor free cash.

Mate took issue with a section of Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) for opposing the project which they had unanimously endorsed in earlier stages.

He said the dissenting voices were driven by a clamour for kickbacks and revealed that opposition of the project was aroused by the contractor’s failure to give MCAs a Ksh 35 Million bribe.

Majority Leader Andrew Musakwa said that all the 33 MCAs approved the construction of the office complex and termed the few ones opposing it as turncoats.

Meanwhile, Speaker Kariuki has expressed concern over the safety of County Assembly personnel after a perimeter wall surrounding it collapsed following a heavy downpour over the weekend.

County Engineers have in the recent past warned of an imminent collapse of the County Assembly offices if urgent measures to secure the excavation for the basement parking and foundation of the office complex are not taken before the onset of the anticipated El Nino.

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