CBC Contractors Protest Delayed pay, Threatens to Lock Classrooms
A group of contractors in Migori County, who were awarded tenders to construct classrooms for the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime, have threatened to prevent learners from accessing the classrooms due to lack of payments.
According to the contractors, the government is yet to pay them more than two months after completing the construction of the CBC classrooms. The contractors claim that they borrowed loans to build the classrooms, and the banks are already on their necks.
Rioba Bokobora, a contractor who spoke on behalf of the group, said that each of them is owed Sh1.3 million by the government for the classrooms they constructed in Migori to host the CBC learners.
He added that they had applied for the tenders advertised in December 2021 for the first phase and July 2022 for the second phase and won. He further claimed that they were given work and completed it in time but have been expecting their pay in vain.
The contractors allege that they have been trying to get feedback from Ministry of Education officials but all their attempts have been futile.
Efforts to get a comment from ministry officials, including the Director of Education for Migori Jacob Onyiego, were also unsuccessful.
Migori contractors are among the contractors countrywide owed more than Sh7.8 billion for the project meant to facilitate grade six learners who transitioned to Junior Secondary schools.
The delayed payments have not only affected the contractors but also the learners who are at risk of being locked out of the classrooms due to the ongoing dispute.
The contractors’ plight highlights the challenges faced by contractors in Kenya who are awarded tenders but are not paid on time, which leads to financial difficulties and legal battles.
The government owes each of them Sh1.3 million, and their efforts to get feedback from Ministry of Education officials have been futile.
CBC Contractors Protest Delayed pay, Threatens to Lock Classrooms
