The Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Government Performance and Delivery Management, Eliud Owalo, has issued a stern warning to contractors undertaking government projects, urging them to complete their assignments within stipulated timelines to safeguard the effective use of public funds.
Owalo stated that the Government Delivery Unit (GDU) is very active on the ground and they will not shy away from exposing rotting projects to protect taxpayers from being robbed of their money. This was after the inspection of the key development projects in Migori County.
He mentioned that the GDU’s main problem is with the contractors’ technical side of the job and in general, their leadership in the execution of the assigned tasks in the given standards and time.
During the tour, Owalo was able to see the progress of the Ngege–Mapera–Rabuor and Kawa–Osingo–Nyaduong roads in Suna East Sub-County, which currently have a completion rate of 11 per cent.
Additionally, he visited Kegonga Level Four Hospital in Kuria East to check on the progress which is only at 35 per cent. The Migori Stadium project was at a 40 per cent completion rate when the deputy chief of staff visited it.
Owalo warned that the state of abandonment or even a shabby moment of a facility is a double-aged sword. It slows the vehicle of service delivery, and the people lose the socio-economic benefits that the government has provisioned for them.
He guaranteed to the people that, the national government, through the GDU, is not sitting on its laurels and will continue spot checks, monitoring and evaluation, to ensure that contractors do not give the performance benchmarks the cold shoulder and public resources are not pocketed by the privileged few.
The inspection tour is consistent with the government’s policy of accountability promotion as well as project delivery acceleration and service provision improvement across the counties.
