Nyandarua governor orders Sh450m recovered from contractor

Nyandarua Governor, Kiarie Badilisha at a past event. He has ordered for a headcount of all county staff.

Photo credit: Waikwa Maina | Nation Media Group

Nyandarua Governor Kiarie Badilisha has directed that over Sh450 million be recovered from a consultant who managed the county’s roads construction equipment worth Sh500 million.

The contractor was hired by the previous administration and most of the equipment has stalled.

Governor Badilisha also cancelled the contract and said the equipment will be managed by a professional board assisted by rural committees in each of five units.

He said the consultant received over Sh150 million per year to manage the equipment, with an upfront payment of Sh68 million.

“The consultant was illegally being paid per kilometre of road constructed using the county roads equipment for no services offered,” the governor.

“The documents in our possession indicate that he was receiving more than Sh150 million annually for the consultancy, this amount must be recovered.

“I have received a report from Isuzu Kenya on the state of the equipment and it will be revived to serve the residents.”

The equipment was bought in 2019 with grants from the World Bank after a rating that ranked Nyandarua as the best-managed county.

He said the equipment was prone to misuse when it was managed by the consultant and was mostly used for private work at the expense of taxpayers.

“The misuse of the equipment has come to an end, they must do the job they were bought to do,” Dr Badilisha said.