LOOTING: Aden Duale’s Firm Awarded Sh154M To Build A Simple Footbridge In Garissa

Kenya National Highways Authority has awarded Concordia Building and Civil Engineering Company Ltd a firm linked and registered with Majority Leader Aden Duale and a Abdi Duale as the directors. The firm ‘won’ the tender to construct a simple footpath in the A3 Road in Garissa which also happens to be Duale’s constituency where he’s the member of parliament, talk about insider deals.

According to the contract agreement witnessed by Norah B.A Advocates, it goes through for 15 months. What’s puzzling is not only about the area MP, Duale, awarding himself the tender but the mere fact that a simple footpath costs Sh154M an amount that is capable of constructing a long road given existing market prices, if this is not looting then what can it be explained as?

Investigations done by media press, indicates that firms linked to Mr Duale have got millions-shilling-worth of contracts from government entities, with his specialty being the partitioning of offices for government agencies moving head offices or modifying existing designs.

In one new case, Concordia Building and Civil Engineering Company Ltd, of which the MP was a founding director, last year received Sh157 million for the partitioning of two floors of the new headquarters of the National Construction Authority at the new Kenya Commercial Bank Plaza in Upper Hill Nairobi.

Valuers contended that Sh157 million was an astounding amount to use on partitioning office space, but the company got the tender even though some others quoted much lower prices for the same job. Some 29 companies bought tender documents for the job when the NCA advertised it.

A valuer from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development who spoke to the website on condition of anonymity said the tender was “grossly inflated. This money, taken together with the rent being paid for just the first three years, could have built the NCA a permanent headquarters,” said the valuer.

Two companies associated with Mr Duale were also implicated over claims that they were irregularly awarded multimillion tenders by Geothermal Development Company (GDC).