Contractors from Garissa County have called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene after the county government failed to pay them.
The more than 40 contractors have put the county government on the spot for failing to pay hundreds of millions of shillings owed to them despite a presidential directive.
Led by Mohamed Yussuf, the contractors say the county owes them over Sh1.9 billion for projects initiated and done dating back to 2013.
Yussuf said President Uhuru should intervene in the matter and compel the County government to pay them.
Speaking on Thursday in Garissa to the press, the agitated contractors said they are yet to get their dues despite numerous visits to the county treasury.
“We thank the President and Treasury CS for directing the counties on numerous occasions to settle all pending bills but unfortunately our county seems not interested in paying us.”
“We have reached a point where we think the only person who can compel the county to pay us is the President. We hope this message reaches him,” Yussuf said as quoted by the-star.co.ke.
One of the contractors, Fatuma Hussein Mohamed, said they are tired of waiting to be paid their dues and they are suffering after spending most of their money on the projects.
Mohamed said she is depending on the payment to take her son to Form one next year after he completed his primary education.
“I am a widow who was left with eight children to look after. I committed most of my monies in the projects I was contracted to deliver but it is now more than five years without payment,” she said.
Mohamed asked that the Auditor-General’s report be used instead of a committee constituted by Governor Ali Korane to review the county’s pending bills.