CAPTION: KERRA Director-General Philemon Kandie alongside Procurement Officer Margaret Wanja Muthui A group of traders who entered into business with the Ministry of Transport are crying out over unsettled dues.
The local distributors who supplied items to contractors recruited by the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA) have been left in a state of a dilemma after they were informed that the fate of their reimbursement remains unknown.
This is because the corrupt roads agency is yet to disburse full payment to the Chinese companies who have since downed their tools in protest.
A majority of projects which they were handling are on are now temporarily stalled.
Most of the affected routes were above 70% in terms of completion. "Kindly hide my ID Mkuu. Recently treasury floated an infrastructure bond of 75 billion they got 98 billion way above what they needed. Currently 70% of ok KERRA jobs have stalled because contractors have not been paid. Local suppliers and services providers that worked for the Chinese have never been paid because the Chinese have not been paid. Where did the money go? 1.Mulot - Sogoo Road: Stalled 2.Ngong - Suswa Road: Stalled 3.Migori - Masara Road: Stalled 4.Naiberi - Kipkabus Road: Stalled 5.Embulbul - Ongata Rongai Road: Stalled And many many more that I haven't listed. Our MPs are silent and some of these roads affect their constituents," the frustrated Kenyan wrote to us on Facebook. As per information exclusively acquired from sources privy to nyakundireport.com, these latest project delays have been strongly linked to serious infighting at KURRA as cartels associated with Director-General Philemon Kandie fight tooth and nail to unseat Senior Procurement Officer Margaret Wanja Muthui. READ MORE: Inside Supremacy Wars At KeRRA In fact, as earlier reported by this site's Chief Editor, things got so heated at the agency last year that DG Kandie sought help from Baringo Senator Gideon Moi who later reached out to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to help him uproot Ms Wanja who has made it very hard for him to conduct his shoddy deals in peace.
The fierce war on the control of multi-billion tenders at the KURRA first erupted sometime in January 2021.
Those in the know revealed that head of procurement Margaret Muthui was being forced out by a cartel to manage the billions of shillings.
Favoured in the deal was Catherine Kangangi whose promotion to head of procurement was not linked to competence but sexually transmitted. READ ALSO: Benson Muteti Masila: KERRA Engineer With Sh1Bn Wealth From Sh390k Monthly Salary Her papers were questioned and insiders at the time said Muthui was is better qualified to run the procurement department compared to Kangangi, who has been accused of using body magic to land the plum slot that is now being disputed over.
Muthui was then transferred to the KERRA's parent Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works.
But in February 2021, the court reinstated her to the role of Procurement Officer.
The reason for her transfer was disagreeing with having a tender given to a firm that had overpriced its costs of undertaking advertised works.
Roben Aberdare Kenya Limited, a firm favoured by Philemon Kandie’s cartels, had overpriced the tender by over Sh1 billion.
This is according to an affidavit sworn by Ms Wanja. READ ALSO: NIS Dossier That Unmasked KeRRA Queen Of Graft Margaret Wanja Muthui As things stand, the agency now has two procurement officers in the same position.
This has led to massive confusion in the running of operations at the agency.
As per the reports, the long string of companies that Kandie controls through his wife includes; Turgo Investment Limited, Oret Engineering Limited, Nakoi Logistics Limited, Robet Contractors, and Jonikwa Company Limited.
There are reports of a loading corruption scandal involving Kandie and one Mr Helkano who was working at KERRA as a procurement officer before jumping into politics.
Contractors and top managers have demanded investigations into corruption propagated by Kandie together with his cartel.