Pay up or we shut you down, Contractors tell Garissa County

Contractors have issued Garissa County government a three-day ultimatum to clear outstanding debts, failure to which the aggrieved business people have vowed to shut down operations at the county offices.

The contractors, who claim they have not been paid for services rendered, announced that that all development projects be suspended forthwith.

Addressing the press, the contractors accused Governor Nathif Jama Adam of micromanaging the county administration, adding that his leadership style paved way for massive corruption in his administration.

The chairman of the Garissa contractors group, Abdi Nassir, said the governor had taken over the role of the County Finance Minister deciding who is to be paid and who should not.

Nassir claimed most of the contractors were facing financial difficulties because they financed the county-commissioned projects using their own money, some even borrowing from relatives with the promise that they would refund the cash once they got paid.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, Nassir said that some of the contractors had not been paid two years after they completed their work.

According to Nassir, most service providers were supposed to be paid in three phases after commencing the projects. The county administration, however, advised them to first execute their projects, promising that they would be paid in full upon completion.

The contractors urged the national government through the Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) to freeze all development funds for this and the next financial years until all the contractors owed by the Garissa county are paid in full.

Governor Adam could not be reached for comment.

Early January, Nandi County government had also faced the same situation with eight of its top officials being held hostage for five hours by road contractors over non- payment of  Ksh207 million.

The officials were held captive by 120 road contractors who said that they would not let them out of the room until the situation was taken care of.

The business people accused County Finance Executive Charles Muge of frustrating their efforts.