A section of contractors in Kisii County have expressed fear of losing their property which they used as collateral for loans to supply and construct structures through contracts awarded by Nyaribari Chache National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF).
Addressing the press at Bobaracho in the Constituency yesterday, the contractors claimed that they were on the verge of losing their homes among other assets after the local CDF allegedly failed to clear their pending bills to a tune of Sh 15 million incurred during the previous regime.
The contractors lamented that efforts to get intervention from the local and national CDF Headquarters had proved futile as they had not received any positive response even after raising an alarm through meetings and correspondence respectively.
Shem Nyamweya, an affected contractor, expressed panic that their children too risked dropping out of school as they could not get credit from other financial institutions who accused them of defaulting.
“All we get is empty promises and then we are later informed that there are no funds,” said Nyamweya.
He castigated the constituency leadership of failing to pay debts of the previous regime even after payment certificates were prepared before 2022 elections.
Caleb Kihara Ouro said the projects which are yet to be paid included Ibeno Kenya Medical Training College buildings to a tune of Sh 10.9 m, Keumbu library Sh 5.9million and Ibeno Mission Primary School classrooms, Sh1.1 million.
Ouro appealed to the national govt to intervene so that they can get their dues before it was too late.
In response, NGCDF National Board Chairman Mr. John Olago Aluoch said the NGCDF Act clause 67 rules that people should not go to court when in dispute with the fund before they seek alternative resolution mechanism through the national board.
“If any contractors rushes to court before going through the process it may be costly for them,” noted Aluoch.
Aluoch cited various challenges facing CDF including delay by treasury to release funds in time and a series of court cases challenging legality of CDF although all except one have been ruled in favour of the fund.
The National chair expressed Optimism for a better future of CDF saying the dialogue committee doing talks at the Bomas of Kenya was deliberating on how the legality of CDF can be anchored in the constitution to avoid similar cases in the future.
By Jane Naitore and Jefferson Volka
