Education CS George Magoha on Wednesday, October 28, responded after some artisans declined President Uhuru Kenyatta's Ksh1.9 Billion school furniture tender.
The artisans had claimed that the project was not economically viable as some of the materials required were not readily available in the counties.
However, while assessing the production and supply of desks to public schools in Nyeri County, Magoha condemned artisans who were returning tenders that they had been allocated and went ahead to ask the artisans to deliver on the tenders.
"This project is being implemented jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Interior and we are indeed very happy and I can now say that you should ignore the rumors and the naysayers who said that the desks had been awarded and there were not seeing any desks," Magoha stated.
He added that he had inspected the desks and informed that they were up to standard.
"This is precisely what the government wants, that the stimulus package goes to the youth at the sub-county level," he stated.
Some of the artisans rejected the tender on the final day of submission, saying that the prices being quoted by the Government in the tenders was below the production cost.
"It is very embarrassing that we were given the price, we were given tenders, but the price is below the production cost given the quality of products needed.
"The production cost is way above the price quoted by the Ministry by over Ksh.1,500. The Government also needs to educate us on how to pay Value Added Tax (VAT), and of course give us enough time to do the work," one of the artisans noted.
The government allocated Ksh1.9 Billion for the purchase of locally assembled desks to both public primary and secondary schools.
The artisans were required to register for the tenders using prescribed forms that could be downloaded from the websites of the Ministries of Interior and Education or collect them from the offices of Deputy County Commissioners.
“This is not the time to ask ‘what’s in it for me?’ We are doing this for our children. As far as this project is concerned, there is nothing we cannot address. If there are bottlenecks, talk to us directly – not the usual bureaucratic practices,” President Uhuru Kenyatta once stated.
