Ruto's markets launch blitz goes on while some remain incomplete

The stalled Karai fish market in Naivasha and along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway despite the county allocating Sh80m in the first phase. Traders who were to benefit from the market have expressed their concern over ongoing vandalism on October 23, 2023. [Antony Gitonga,Standard] As President William Ruto travels across the country to launch new markets, many facilities that have consumed billions of taxpayers' money are deteriorating. Some of these markets, which were commissioned nearly a decade ago, are either in ruins or remain incomplete. The Saturday Standard has established that while several markets have stalled, others were vandalised, raising concerns about continued taxpayer investment in these projects. In his recent tour of Mt Kenya, the president commissioned the construction of new modern markets. Among the projects is the construction of eight new markets in Nyandarua County. Ruto, while in Laikipia County, announced plans for constructing a Sh50 million market in Sibili and another in Rumuruti. In the year 2024, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura, during his development tours in Nakuru, maintained that more markets will be constructed even as others remain unutilised. Mwaura said the government had set aside at least Sh2 billion in the financial year 2023/2024 for the construction of markets. "How do you ask that, since some markets are not utilised, we have started constructing others? Markets will be constructed, and over 20 markets will be constructed here. People need them," Mwaura said. He maintained that even if the markets will not be utilised soon, they will be utilised in the years to come, adding that the government's focus is on the future. A spot check by The Standard has established that some of the markets whose construction started 15 years ago are yet to be utilised. In Kericho County, a Sh98 million ultra-modern market initiated by the national government in May 2009 through the Economic Stimulus Programme is wasting away. The floor is full of cracks, which also run down the pillars of the market. In Nakuru County, a multimillion-dollar fish market whose construction started in 2021 remains incomplete. The county government and the East African Green Council had partnered to construct the Sh350 million Karai Fish Market. However, to date, the project remains incomplete. "The project has so far cost Sh107 million-Sh89 million for a market shed, Sh9 million for a borehole, and Sh9 million for a fence, yet we have no market for traders," stated Nakuru County Secretary Dr Samuel Mwaura in a previous interview. Mwaura noted that through meetings early this year with the community and fishermen, it was evident that the project is barren of community ownership. The community, he said, would prefer a vegetable market at the site of the fish market, while the fishermen preferred a market located on one of the landing beaches along the lake. "The borehole, drilled without geological experts, only produces one cubic metre of water per hour, which is costly. Had there been community ownership, Sh107 million would not have gone to waste," he stated. A report of the Auditor General on county governments for the year 2023/2024 revealed continued wastage of public funds on construction of markets. In Kwale County, a wholesale market at Kombani has been vandalised, with doors and windows and cold room machines having been removed. The county government, as per the audit, explained that the market was not in use due to a court order obtained by the contractor barring the county from accessing the facility. The County Government had entered into a contract with a local contractor for the construction of the market on March 7, 2021, at a contract sum of Sh105,911,142. The contract period was to end on May 2, 2022. The contract sum was later varied upwards by Sh12,150,838 to Sh118,061,980. However, the contract was terminated on November 2, 2021, with total payments to the contractor of S95,308,265, including an amount of Kshs. 9,530,826 paid as retention money for the works executed before termination of the contract. In Mandera County, a Sh339,606,523 regional livestock market remains unutilised. The construction of the market started on May 15, 2021. In the 2023/2024 financial year, the county paid the contractor Sh22 million. The audit revealed a delay in the construction of the Sh 545,211,810 million modern market in Isiolo County. The report shows the contractor was paid Sh366,626,237, but the project is still unfinished. In Meru County, the report revealed a delay in the construction of the Sh42,942,750 Ndagani market. The county government entered into a contract with a contractor on June 6, 2023. "Audit inspection carried out in September 2024 on the project revealed that the contractor was not on site, the ramp for scaling the heights from the ground floor to the first floor was exposed and could be vandalised, and the project had stalled. In the circumstances, the public did not realise value for money in the expenditure of Sh14,535,270," read the report in part. In Embu County, the auditor general noted that the renovation of Manyatta market remains incomplete. The County Government on April 26, 2024, entered into a contract with a construction company at a contract sum of Sh1,999,004. The work was to be completed in three months. The contractor, as per the report, failed to construct a raised steel tank platform, supply and install a 1000-litre water tank and allow for water connection, estimated at a total cost of Sh319,000. The contractor supplied and fixed substandard doors instead of 50 mm-thick flush doors, estimated to cost Sh54,500. An ablution block walling was not built to the recommended standard height, and the toilets had no ventilation to allow for free flow of air. In Turkana County, the construction of a Sh132 million modern business centre in Lodwar had stalled. In Samburu County, the Sh53,981,760 Maralal Municipality retail market is yet to be utilised. "The retail market site was covered with overgrown bushes, heaps of waste soil that the contractor had not disposed of, and dilapidated iron sheets securing the site that the contractor ought to have removed after erecting a masonry fence," read the report in part. In Kericho County, the Sondu market, whose construction started on June 12, 2019, remains incomplete. Over Sh100.4 million has been spent on the project that had been allocated Sh128,945,229. Migori's Kwiriba, Masaba, Midoti. Opapo Auction Ring, Oyani Masai, Mabera, Masangora, Kugitimo, Maeta, Ikerege, Olasi, and Rongo market projects remain incomplete. In Kisii County, various market facilities are yet to be utilised. The county government, as per the report, paid Sh6,202,806 to various contractors for the completion of a pit latrine at Kionyo Market, a ventilated toilet at Nyamaiya Market, the Ochodororo Market shed, and the Mama Mboga shed. However, a physical inspection of these projects revealed that despite all having been completed, they were not being utilised by the community as provided; the pit latrines at Kinonyo and Nyamaiya markets had poor ventilation and lacked water, while the market shed at Ochodororo was inaccessible due to its high height and lack of stairs. Political analyst Gitile Naituli, a professor of management and leadership, said the president's actions are a waste of public funds. Naituli said Ruto has not commissioned anything new. "I don't think the president has commissioned anything new. Some of the projects were commissioned in the year 2018," said Naituli. He noted that the commissioning of a modern market has no economic value. He noted that the president and his entourage spent more than the amount spent on launching projects. "It is a reckless use of public money. We never saw President Mwai Kibaki launching anything; are we not seeing his work today? You launch a market built with Sh40 million and spend Sh500 million. What have you done?" Unless Ruto changes tact, what he is doing will not help him," he added.

Ruto's markets launch blitz goes on while some remain incomplete

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Ruto's markets launch blitz goes on while some remain incomplete

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