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Stalled Suneka market haunts Kisii County government 10 years later

 

The construction of a multi-million shilling modern market in Suneka Town in Kisii County has stalled despite the huge amount of money spent on it.

The structure has been turned into a waste disposal site. It is littered with human waste, while other sections are used for illicit activities including prostitution. Some of its interior spaces are littered with used condoms.

The incomplete one-storey building has lately become the centre of a legal battle between the Kisii County government and the contractor.

The market that Suuneka residents hoped would uplift their economic standards upon completion has apparently become a cash cow for some top county officials who often initiate endless renovations. It has turned into a shelter for cows and goats.   

 Residents blame an arbitrary change of contractors for the delay in the completion of the market. Financial records show that more than Sh50 million had been set aside for the completion of the project by the Kisii County government.

Suneka Market

Cows inside the unfinished Suneka Market building in Kisii on October 7, 2022.

Ondari Ogega | Nation Media Group

The construction of the market was initiated by the defunct Ministry of Local Government in 1991 at a cost of over Sh300 million— a substantial amount of money at the time.

The then area MP the late Dr Protus Kebati Momanyi described the market as one of the largest in East and Central Africa. There were plans to install coolers for the preservation of horticultural products.

The market was hurriedly built to pave way for its official opening by the late President Daniel Moi before the 1997 General Election. Due to poor workmanship, the market’s roof and walls required renovation.

 In 2013, the market was among the top “priority” projects of the Kisii County government. Sh70 million was set aside for its renovation. Its roof was brought down by a new contractor who later left. Records at the county, however, show that millions of shillings had been spent on the market’s rehabilitation.   

The matter has become a subject of dispute before the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Kenya Branch. The county government was ordered to pay the contractor Sh30,431,322

It is alleged that top Kisii County officials have been using the stalled market as a conduit to embezzle public funds.

Frustrated Suneka town residents say the market has become an eyesore.

Mr Richard Moindi Ombati of Seboka General Construction Limited says the failure by the Kisii County government to pay him has caused him emotional stress and health complications.

“I am asking Governor Simba Arati to intervene, we want the project completed,” said Mr Moindi who has sued the devolved unit for breach of contract.

The contractor, through Seboka Construction Company Limited, claims that he won the tender to refurbish the market at a cost of Sh70 million. However, a dispute arose after the county allegedly terminated the contract prematurely, forcing him to seek arbitration through the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Kenya Branch which appointed Engineer Apollo Okelo Rogo as the sole arbiter of the dispute.

Moindi

Seboka General Construction Limited Director Richard Moindi Ombati stands in front of the unfinished Suneka Market building in Kisii on October 7, 2022. 

Ondari Ogega | Nation Media Group

The arbitrator ordered the county to pay the contractor Sh30,431,322 and interest of 11.9 per cent per annum from 2020 for breach of the contract.

The contractor moved to the High Court after the county government failed to honour the order. 

In court papers, the contractor alleges that he won the contract in 2014. He says he started experiencing problems soon after he started working. 

He claims that on March 8, 2019, Ms Beatrice Ochoki, the then Kisii County Chief Finance Officer and Accounting terminated the contract award. He was accused of breaching contractual obligations.

The contractor told the court that it was the county government that breached the contractual obligations, leading to the collapse of the tender.

 “The Kisii County government was in serious breach of the contract, having failed to, among other things, honour fully a duly certified Interim Payment Certificates and wrongfully withholding Sh2,885,922 being excess retention money held over and above the contractual 5 percent…”

In his ruling, the arbitrator indicted the county leadership of breaching the contract, “by deliberate acts and omissions,” and particularly trying to sabotage the arbitration process.

The company successfully won the contract in 2014 vide Tender number KCG/WKS/T/10/‪2013-2014 to refurbish and extend Suneka Market in Bonchari Constituency at a cost of Sh57.698 million.

After variation, the amount increased by Sh12.947million bringing the total to Sh70.6 million.

After the county apparently refused to honour the directive from the appointed arbitrator, the contractor moved to the High Court to enforce and execute the arbitrator’s findings against the county.

The contractor avers in suit papers filed at the High Court in Kisii that upon commencement of work, he started experiencing delays in the initially agreed payment of mobilisation fees. Later the county cancelled the tender award.

The contractor further states that his business has been ruined by the Kisii County Government. He claimed that he secured a bank loan for the Suneka Project.     BY DAILY NATION   

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