{"id":18370,"date":"2020-11-30T20:25:42","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T20:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=18370"},"modified":"2020-11-30T20:25:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T20:25:42","slug":"wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/economy\/wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask","title":{"rendered":"Where\u2019s our cash for Covid desks, carpenters ask"},"content":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> Artisans have expressed frustrations over delayed payment after delivery of desks and chairs for public primary and secondary schools under the Sh1.9 billion project.<\/p>\n

This is despite a promise by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha and Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang that the carpenters would be paid by November 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those who have completed and delivered we will start paying them from Friday. Everything is ready,\u201d Prof Magoha said in Kisii, on October 30.<\/p>\n

Speaking at Olekasasi Primary in Rongai on the same day, Dr Kipsang said the artisans would be paid immediately upon delivery of the desks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe borrowed the money to supply the desks and those we owe know that we delivered and were paid. It is so embarrassing to keep telling them lies,\u201d said an artisan in Vihiga County. The carpenter who falls in the category of persons living with disabilities said he borrowed about Sh300,000 to make the desks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent Sh5,000 to deliver the desks to schools and to date I am yet to pay the transporter. And I did this to beat the deadline for delivery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The artisans\u2019 deadline for the supply of the 622,157 desks, chairs and lockers to public primary and secondary schools was on October 27. Of the Sh1.9 billion, Sh1 billion was to go towards making desks for secondary schools while Sh900 million for primary schools.<\/p>\n

The government plan was a major boost for jua kali artisans and small and medium-sized enterprises involved in carpentry at the sub-county level.<\/p>\n

It is now emerging that the wait may be longer as ministry officials navigate the stringent procurement processes before payment approvals are done.<\/p>\n

The Standard yesterday established that a report by the sub-county procurement inspection and acceptance committee must be submitted to the county head office for approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis report is critical because it details whether the desks, chairs and lockers were of the specified quality and if they met set standards,\u201d said a sub-county director in Kakamega County.<\/p>\n

According to the plan, two planning and execution committees were formed and chaired by county commissioners at the county level and Deputy County Commissioners at the sub county level.<\/p>\n

Deputy county commissioners were to lead their teams in confirming the quality of the furniture and compliance with the specifications with the prototypes and ensure proper labelling before delivery to schools.<\/p>\n

The county and sub-county committees were to ensure that the benefiting schools are well distributed geographically.<\/p>\n

Procure material<\/p>\n

Magoha said only verified work will be paid. \u201c\u2026and of course we shall pay for what we have verified which is very top quality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The CS assured that payments will be made to individual artisans through mobile money transfer.<\/p>\n

Interviews with artisans across the country revealed that most of them borrowed money\u00ad \u2013 with an accruing interest\u2013 as they did not have the financial capability to deliver the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe interest is growing each day and some of us have even gone to the County Commissioner\u2019s office to ask for payment but we are told that the money is available but some process is delaying the release of the cash,\u201d said another artisan in Nairobi.<\/p>\n

Others also said that the cost of assembling the desks and chairs was higher than what the ministry prescribed.<\/p>\n

The Ministry said that each primary school desk would cost Sh2,500 since lockers and chairs cost Sh3,800 under the Economic Stimulus Programme for public primary and secondary schools countrywide.<\/p>\n

The artisans, however, argue that the cost of assembling a desk and locker was Sh5,151.<\/p>\n

But Magoha said that after conducting due diligence, the ministry set the prices at Sh2,500 and Sh3,800 for primary and secondary school desks respectively.<\/p>\n

He said a unit at the ministry had inflated the cost by Sh1,700, which meant that only 250,000 desks would be supplied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government will now be able to supply 622,157 locally assembled desks to 5,136 public primary (359,450 desks) and 5,243 public secondary schools (262,707 desks, lockers and chairs),\u201d said Magoha.<\/p>\n

Nakuru County Education Director, George Kimani, noted that 4,000 desks have been supplied to primary schools, out of the expected 11,550, with 300 tables and chairs to secondary schools, out of 9,600.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupply of furniture to schools has been sluggish as contractors complain of delayed payments, making it hard for them to procure material for assembling them,\u201d Mr Kimani.<\/p>\n

High finish<\/p>\n

According to the quotation drawn by the School Equipment Production Unit, lockers and chairs were to be of 16 gauge, one inch round metal tube frame and a lockable box of cypress wood.<\/p>\n

For lockers, the top hung opening flap was to be made of three quarter inch thick plain manufactured block board with cypress wood beading and piano hinges. \u201cHigh finish with clear varnish and metal frame painted with black gloss paint to prevent rusting,\u201d reads the quotation.<\/p>\n

For chairs, quotation required that they be mounted on 16 gauge, one inch round metal tube frame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya: Artisans have expressed frustrations over delayed payment after delivery of desks and chairs for public primary and secondary schools under the Sh1.9 billion project. This is despite a promise by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha and Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang that the carpenters would be paid by November 6. \u201cFor those who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":18364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8],"tags":[6675,228,6674],"class_list":["post-18370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","tag-basic-education-principal-secretary-belio-kipsang","tag-education","tag-education-cabinet-secretary-george-magoha"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere\u2019s our cash for Covid desks, carpenters ask - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Artisans have expressed frustrations over delayed payment after delivery of desks and chairs for public primary and secondary schools\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/economy\/wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where\u2019s our cash for Covid desks, carpenters ask\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Artisans have expressed frustrations over delayed payment after delivery of desks and chairs for public primary and secondary schools\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/economy\/wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-30T20:25:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/11\/wheres_our_cash_f5fc3df455aab3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/economy\/wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/economy\/wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Where\u2019s our cash for Covid desks, carpenters ask\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-30T20:25:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/economy\/wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask\"},\"wordCount\":817,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/economy\/wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/11\/wheres_our_cash_f5fc3df455aab3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang\",\"Education\",\"Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/economy\/wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/economy\/wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/economy\/wheres-our-cash-for-covid-desks-carpenters-ask\",\"name\":\"Where\u2019s our cash for Covid desks, carpenters ask - 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