There was chaos at Kisii County Assembly on Thursday, December 3, when contractors stormed the building in protest.
The businesspeople accused ward representatives of awarding themselves county tenders.
Police lobbed teargas canisters to disperse the contractors who were disrupting the activities of the assembly.
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Kisii County Contractors Association had urged the county assembly to clear pending bills before awarding any new jobs.
The association chairman Wilfred Bosire stated that they did not want a situation where the bills would increase further.
"We are urging the county government to pay us our pending bills before it awards new contracts. We do not want to accumulate the same," Bosire noted.
The chairman stated that the delay in the release of funds to the counties was also delaying payments to the contractors.
The association's Secretary General Hoffman Ondieki added that local institutions such as Kisii University, Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital and Kisii National Polytechnic should prioritise giving local contractors tenders.
Counties have been called out by businesses over unpaid bills with Kisumu County boss Anyang' Nyong'o addressing people operating under the banner of contractors’ association, noting that there were accusations against the County Government of Kisumu over pending Bills.
"They claim that they have not been paid for the services they provided to this Government. They have gone ahead to threaten to damage or block the said projects from being used by wananchi.
"As I said during my third State of the County Address last week, the County Government of Kisumu has not refused to settle any genuine pending Bill," he assured.
Nyong'o stated that the Kisumu County Government had paid pending bills amounting to Ksh592 Million, which had been verified as genuine.
