Can’t pay, won’t pay, says Kilifi governor on Sh1b dubious bills
By Reuben.Mwambingu, February 16, 2023Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro vowed yesterday that his administration will not pay the pending bills flagged by the Auditor-General.
Mung’aro insisted that the county would only pay for genuine work, and not for “hot air.”
He said some businessmen were planning to sabotage his administration following his strong stand on payment of pending bills — currently amounting to more than Sh1.5 billion.
A huge percentage of the bills were flagged by the Auditor-General in her recent report. Suppliers have on several occasions threatened to stage demonstrations to the governor’s office to push for payment.
They accuse the governor of taking ages to offset the pending bills, a situation they said is affecting their businesses.
But the governor claimed some people who have never transacted business with the county have hijacked the bills debate hoping to reap where they did not sow.
“If you did your work well and everything is clear on our side, you will be paid. But to those cartels who thought that I would pay for hot air, rest assured you will not get a penny. We will not pay for ghost projects. I know they are planning some demos to my office. I want to tell them that they are welcome and, in fact, I can facilitate them to make sure their demos succeed. I will not be cowed since I am ready to protect funds on behalf of Kilifi people,”he said.
He further said he knows some people are using the bills debate to incite residents to picket and cripple his government.
“The planners I know are agitated business people involved in unknown businesses who want to hold the county to ransom. I have stated on several forums that we will not pay cartels and other unscrupulous business people who thought that the county would pay for work that was not done. I will not relent,” he said at Mazingira Park in Kilifi town where he officially launched a free WiFi project for residents.
Suspicious company
The governor said it was shocking that a firm which is under investigation managed to secure tenders in almost every department, saying the rules were clear on how to conduct business with the county.
“We discovered that there was a single company that was awarded tenders running into millions of shillings in almost every department in the previous regime. That will not happen now,” he said.
Mung’aro asked the residents to stand with him as he waged war on cartels that were on a mission to destabilise his efforts.
“I am also sending a message to my officers that you were employed to serve the people and not to trade with the government. If you came into this government with such intentions, then you better resign because that will not happen under my administration,” he said.
The governor said the free WiFi project was meant to address the growing online commerce and help students doing research and other programmes online.
Education and ICT county executive Clara Chonga said the free WiFi was a promise by the governor to the people of Kilifi to help in online services and growth of online commerce. “The project targets all cadres of people in Kilifi, ranging from students who could use it for e-learning to business people and traders who could use it for e-commerce and to access e-government services,” she noted.
She said free WiFi would also be installed in towns like Mtwapa, Mazeras Mariakani and Watamu, adding: “Even vocational training centres will be fitted with WiFi”.
“We have installed features that prohibit access to illegal and explicit sites that would erode the values of our society,” she said, adding that artistes could use the free WiFi to sell their music online.