Reports that a contractor is once again demanding Sh1.1 billion from the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) in compensation for a terminated contract are unsettling.
The contractor, identified as Doch Company, has yet to lodge its claim publicly, but the Auditor-General has found a letter addressed to KAA suggesting that a legal battle may be brewing.
The report says the firm which had a Sh398.9 million contract to rehabilitate a runway, apron and car park at Nanyuki Airstrip is demanding “compensation” equivalent to three times the contract price.
What makes this even more unsettling is the fact that the 86.8 percent or Sh955 million being demanded is to cover for the idle time. Poring through the audit report, one cannot help but notice apparent official complicity.
The contract initially meant to be executed within 12 months was, for instance, only 42 per cent complete by the time of termination -- less than one month to the end of the extended 21-month period. In short, the firm wants to be paid for an idle capacity at a rate that is three times more than it would have earned had it worked on schedule.
How that level of wastage can be permitted by the same officials who have of late been waxing lyrical about austerity measures is difficult to see.
So far, the Kenyan economy is groaning under the weight of public debt – which has crossed the Sh5 trillion mark – and mainly driven by the large dose of loans.
Since most of these loans have been channelled to infrastructure projects, we expect the public officials in charge to meticulously scrutinise every element of these contracts.
Otherwise, it goes beyond comprehension for a contractor to just move equipment to a site, do no work, then claim for the idle capacity when the contract period expires. If this is because of delay in releasing resources, officials found culpable should be surcharged accordingly.
Lest we forget, Kenyans reacted with utmost shock late last year when they learnt how officials had tried to set up electricity consumers to pay Sh13.9 billion as penalties for delay in connecting Lake Turkana Wind Power farm to the national grid.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
