Members of the Public Investments, Commercial, and Energy Committee have accused KURA’s management of collusion with the contractor to facilitate these payments. Documents presented to the committee, led by Pokot South MP David Pkosing, revealed that the authority had already paid the company Ksh 687 million, despite significant portions of the work, particularly bridges, remaining unfinished
The Kenya Urban Highway Authority (KURA) management is facing scrutiny after paying millions to a contractor for work that remains incomplete. A parliamentary committee has questioned why Cementers Construction Company, awarded a tender worth Ksh 892 million to build roads and bridges, received hefty payments before completing the projects.
Members of the Public Investments, Commercial, and Energy Committee have accused KURA’s management of collusion with the contractor to facilitate these payments. Documents presented to the committee, led by Pokot South MP David Pkosing, revealed that the authority had already paid the company Ksh 687 million, despite significant portions of the work, particularly bridges, remaining unfinished.
“Somebody must explain why this contractor was overpaid. How was he paid Ksh 687 million for the work done so far? It’s not clean, and there’s some shrewdness involved here,” Pkosing said, adding that nearly all the money had been paid, even though substantial work was still incomplete. “In the contract, the amount of money remaining is Ksh 205 million. Even if the bridges were completed, this sum would not be enough.”
The scope of the contract included the rehabilitation and upgrading of Shreeji Road, the construction of walkways and drains, and expansion of bridges on Likoni and Enterprise Roads, all in Nairobi’s Industrial Area. The contractor was also tasked with constructing concrete drains and drainage works on both roads.
However, an audit inspection in February last year showed that the bridges on Likoni and Enterprise Roads were still incomplete, with the contractor failing to submit design drawings for the latter. The Shreeji Road had only seen earthworks completed.
The Auditor General’s report raised concerns, stating that the project was unlikely to be completed by the revised date of April 8, 2023, thereby compromising the value for money. KURA Director General Silas Kinoti informed the committee that the contractor had been pushing for a mutual termination of the contract due to stalled progress and incomplete work.
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Kinoti also attributed delays to Kenya Railways Corporation’s changes to the original contract, increasing the width of the lanes from 5.1 meters to 7 meters due to inflation. “The project stalled in 2021, and Kenya Railways changed the initial agreement, which contributed to the delays,” he explained.
In response, MP Pkosing directed the Auditor General to investigate whether there was value for money in the completed work and to examine the full scope of the contract. “Submit the CR-12 of this contractor to the Auditor General. We need all parties involved to be held accountable,” he ordered.
MP Marianne Kitany, representing Aldai, emphasized that the delayed completion of these infrastructure projects has worsened the already heavy traffic on Likoni-Enterprise Road, calling for greater accountability. “We need a roundtable between KURA, Kenya Railways, and the contractor. They should provide evidence of why the projects haven’t been completed,” Kitany said.
Kiambu Town MP John Machua also questioned the contractor’s desire to terminate the contract when the project was close to completion. “Why does he want to terminate the contract mutually, yet he is almost done with the project?” he asked.
