Sh366m county head office deal sealed despite opposition
What you need to know:
- This comes four days after the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board declared that proper tender procedures had been followed.
- Mr Ragwa described attempts to block the construction of the county headquarters at Kathwana as dirty politics, meant to “fail” him during his tenure.
- The governor said he was simply fulfilling the wishes of residents of the whole county.
Governor Samuel Ragwa has signed a contract for the construction of the controversial Sh366 million county headquarters at Kathwana Market amid heightened political divisions over the location.
Mr Ragwa maintained that the head office would be built at Kathwana and not in Chuka Town, which some political leaders preferred.
He spoke at Kathwana Market when he signed the papers.
This comes four days after the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board declared that proper tender procedures had been followed.
Thwama Construction Company had called for a review of the procurement after arguing that it was done without following due procedure.
Mr Kiambi Matanka, the chairman of Terra Craft Kenya Limited, which won the tender, and the governor signed the contract before the public.
The event also saw the launch of the construction of the Kathwana Market at a cost of Sh10 million.
Mr Ragwa said all county department offices would be under one roof once construction of the building is complete. He said the county assembly, whose tender will be advertised next week, would, however, be constructed near the Kathwana Prison.
Mr Ragwa described attempts to block the construction of the county headquarters at Kathwana as dirty politics, meant to “fail” him during his tenure.
He criticised Chuka Igamba-Ng’ombe MP Muthomi Njuki, saying that he had challenged the awarding of the tender on “baseless” grounds.
He said the location was agreed on by a delegation of 200 leaders from the three constituencies — Tharaka, Chuka Igamba-Ng’ombe and Maara — when they met in Chuka Town.
The governor said he was simply fulfilling the wishes of residents of the whole county.
“I am not the one who decided that the county headquarters should be located at Kathwana but a delegation from the three constituencies. They agreed that Kathwana is the central place,” said Mr Ragwa.
He regretted that the residents had waited for long for the headquarters, which was supposed to be built last year.
“We would have started building the headquarters last year, but some political leaders have been blocking the project, saying it should be in Chuka Town,” he said.
The governor said the public should get services from one point.
“We want all the county leaders to be here so that people from Tharaka North can get services without having to move to Chuka, which is almost at the border with Embu County. Anyone who fails to move to Kathwana by the end of the grace period would be unwilling to work with us and should look for work elsewhere,” he added.
