The Management of University of Eldoret has appealed to the government to prevail upon a contractor to hasten the completion of a three-story school of economics project that has taken more than four years.
The Vice-chancellor Professor, Teresa Akenga sought the intervention and said that the University urgently requires to make use of the facility to accommodate students who need extra space due to the Covid-19 pandemic and adhere to Ministry of Health protocol.
The project was started in 2016 and was expected to be completed by September 2017. Uasin Gishu County Commissioner (CC), Stephen Kihara, Prof. Akenga toured the site and confirmed that the project is 95% complete. However, the contractor had not been keen on completing and handing it over to the University.
Urgency on the project
The first class of economics students who expected to use the Sh 242 million national government-funded project did their final examination in December last year and were not happy that they completed their course without using a facility that was meant for their learning said the VC.
“We want the project completed and handed over urgently to provide extra space so that our students can maintain social distance during lecturers to minimize the spread of the Corona pandemic. Despite various communication with the contractor who has been giving promises to complete the project, he has been playing a cat and mouse game with us despite being paid Sh94 million in December and without any unpaid pending certificate,” said the VC.
Prof. Akenga suggested that the government should in the future be advising clients on the performance of contractors for evaluation purposes, especially for capital projects in public institutions. Other projects being implemented through National Government funding at the University include a Sh373 million Amphitheatre that is at 45% completion rate and a 9 kilometre perimeter wall being implemented in phases. The project is currently in the fifth phase.
