By Martin Masai
Details have emerged on what led to the stalling of a World Bank funded project in Machakos Central Business District.
The Anchor has established that the project stalled after the County Government of Machakos awarded a tender for paving a 130 meter stretch to a firm- Turin Contractors at a cost of Kes 88 million, ignoring another bidder- Seluk Investment Limited that was the lowest bidder at Kes 79 million.
Director of Seluk Investment Mr Abdi Seluk confirmed yesterday that he petitioned the National Procurement Authority, which resulted in the cancellation of the tender." They were told to re award the tender but they have not awarded", Seluk added When the Machakos County Government opened its IFMIS system to advertise for re-tendering, Mr Seluk went to court and obtained an injunction to halt the process and compel the county to follow due process from the initial process.
Mr. Seluk said yesterday, " I'm still waiting. The IFMIS system says we are still waiting, and that is where the matter stands to date.
The stalemate continues as the county stands to miss out on Kes 2b from the World Bank fund for improvement of its municipalities.
The county has missed out funds for two years, running first being 2022, the last year under former Governor Alfred Mutua, and second in 2023, being the first year under current Governor Wavinya Ndeti.
It is likely to miss out again in 2024 if the foot dragging persists.
At the centre of the funding row is Kes 89m lying unused, which the Machakos Municipalities Board earmarked for the that road runs from Kimutwa Workshop and rips behind Lauh Hotel,Women Finance Trust, KFA and links to the road facing Equity Bank.
Our sources say Mutua wanted the funds used for construction of an air strip at the still born New Machakos City, but the Board chaired by Mr Malcom Kateta resisted, and Mutua ran out of time.
The board, sources say, is fighting for autonomy to be able to run its programmes without interference from central or the county government.
Matters have not improved after the arrival of Governor Ndeti at the Machakos White House. Since May, when bids were floated for construction of the road by use of cabro, the tender has not been awarded.
Tired of this administrative dithering, the World Bank has given an altimatum to recall the Kes 89m and pull out of funding the needy Municipalities of Machakos County.
WB donates Kes 1b annually to Machakos County under the Kenya Urban Transport Improvement Programme(KUTIP) to be shared between Machakos,Mavoko and TalaKangundo urban areas.
The programme targets the improvement of urban roads to bitumen standards to make the municipalities dust free and boost standards of living.
Sources tell The Anchor that the current stalemate is a result of cartels that are opposed to the contractor who won the tender.
" Since May, the winner has not been announced, and we suspect that a tooth and nail fight is being conducted so that those allied to the current administration are awarded the works," the source added.
This development exposes an administration that failed to deploy a single shilling to development in the last quarter as indicated by a report by the Controller of Budget.
When The Anchor first published the story, Majority Leader Nicholas Nzioka wrote a message to the editor that the story of the stalled project was not factual. When challenged to present his set of facts, the MCA for Machakos Central has remained quiet. We publish the relevant messages here.
The stalemate continues as the county stands to miss out on Kes 2b from the World Bank fund for improvement of its municipalities.
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