County to lose millions as office reserved for Uhuru

Tax payers risk losing millions of shillings in breach of contract in a row for office space pitting Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho against President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration.

The county government may be compelled to cancel the tender to renovate new offices for the governor after the National Government reportedly reneged on an earlier agreement to donate space at former coast provincial headquarters.

The county government said it had reached an agreement with the National Government for space with the the former being requested to mobilise funds for renovations.

However, the county government said the National Government later informed it that President Uhuru Kenyatta would be using the second floor and thus the governor could not be accommodated in the same building.

Joho's senior aide Idris Abdirahman said the contractor was stopped last week from commencing renovations on three floors of the Uhuru Na Kazi Building.

Mr Abdirahman protested against the decision by County Commissioner Nelson Marwa, saying taxpayers will be forced to foot the bill for breach of contract.

"By the time we had to advertise and award the tender, it means we had consulted and agreed but now we risk paying forbreach of contract," he said.

The aide said the governor was working from his private offices in Kizingo almost two years after elections.

"How can they tell us that one floor is reserved for the President yet State House is barely 100 metres away from the same building?" he asked.

Marwa said Uhuru Na Kazi Building was the property of the National Government and the county had other options for space.