The Affordable Housing project in Milimani area in Kakamega County is in the final phase of completion and the contractor is working on the final touches, a senior government official has revealed.
The Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Delivery and Government Efficiency in the Executive Office of the President, Eliud Owalo, said the project is at 78 percent completion.
Owalo noted that the contractor is currently working on landscaping and other final touches, which will be completed in the next 40 days.
He was speaking on Thursday when he led the National Government delivery and efficiency unit on an inspection tour of National Government projects in Kakamega county.
The Deputy Chief of Staff asserted that the housing project falls under a strategic thematic area in the Kenya Kwanza plan to facilitate affordability in access to housing for Kenyans, create jobs for the youth and provide a market for the JuaKali sector.
The project which is spearheaded by the State Department for Housing and Urban Development is estimated to cost Sh472 million.
It targets construction of 220 housing units, consisting of 60 studio units, 20 one-bedroom units, 100 two-bedroom units, and 40 three-bedroom units.
Meanwhile, Owalo warned contractors against taking government projects beyond their capacity, leading to shoddy work and failure to meet set completion timelines.
“We are witnessing a situation where certain contractors are taking up more projects than they can implement because it is beyond their capacity. They bid for five to six projects at the same time using different companies and then they quote low to undercut some people by way of price,” he explained.
He added that there is a conflict of interest where some government officers are also contractors where they award themselves contracts that interfere with proper supervision.
“That is conflict of interest, so moving forward we don’t want a situation where public servants are also contractors yet they are the ones who are awarding the contracts,” he highlighted.
By Moses Wekesa and Philip Jonathan
