The Kenya Urban Highways Authority (KURA) is on the spot for paying a contractor for work not done.

A parliamentary committee questioned why the firm, Cementers Construction Company which had been awarded a tender to construct roads and bridges worth Sh892 million, was overpaid even before it completed the projects.

Members of the Public Investments, Commercial, and Energy Committee accused the management of colluding with the contractor to have the payments made.

Documents tabled before the committee chaired by Pokot South MP David Pkosing showed that the authority paid the company Sh687 million, with 50 per cent of the contract sum not completed.

“Bridges haven’t been done and almost all the money has been paid. A substantial amount of work has not been done. In the contract the amount of money remaining is Sh205 million, even if the bridges were to be completed, this is not enough,” Pkosing insisted.

Details show the scope of the contract included rehabilitation and upgrading of the single carriageway of Shreeji Road, construction of walkways and drains, expansion of the existing bridge over the rail on Likoni Road and river bridge on Enterprise Road, all in Nairobi’s Industrial Area.

The construction firm was also awarded a tender to construct concrete drains, pipe culverts and drainage works on both Likoni Road and Enterprise Road.

However, an audit inspection carried out in February last year revealed that the Likoni and Enterprise Road bridge was incomplete with the contractor having failed to submit design drawings for the latter.

The Shreeji Road was also incomplete with only the earthworks done thus far.

More details

KURA Director General Silas Kinoti told the committee that the fate of the works being completed hangs in the balance following the incessant push by the contractor for a mutual termination of the contract with a huge chunk of the work not completed.

According to Kinoti, the move by Kenya Railways Corporation to move from the initial agreement of the contract signed occasioned the delays.

“The construction project stalled in 2021 and the correspondences that we have showed that Kenya Railway Corporation changed their initial agreement on the metres of construction of the lanes from 5.1 meters to 7 meters,” he explained.

Pkosing directed the Auditor General to furnish the committee with comprehensive details on whether there was value for money in regards to the scope of work issued to the contractor and the completed work done thus far.

“Submit the CR-12 of this contractor to the Auditor General. We will need all the parties there, that contractor included he is not of the hook,” he directed.

Aldai MP Marianne Kitany pointed out that the delayed completion of the three infrastructure projects has exacerbated the already strained traffic conditions along Likoni-Enterprise Road. “We need a roundtable between KURA, Kenya Railways Corporation, and the contractor. They should all issue us with the correspondence letter as evidence of why these projects haven’t been completed.”