…After the normal preparations, that is, provision of the surety bond, workmans compensation and the program of works, the contractor delivers them to the project owner (the ministry). A meeting is arranged to discuss the actual site handover, the project commencement date and any other matters related to the roads project. After that meeting the contractor mobilises and takes his machinery and personnel to site.
At the site, a workers camp is constructed including a site office. Once done, the contractor starts to do the road route bush clearance. Back in the ministry, the bosses cannot agree on who should be the clerk of Works (COW) and the Resident Engineer (RE) because of their own personal interest and this goes on for close to six months. In the meantime the contractor at the site does the entire bush clearing along the road route. Once done, the contractor carries out the normal surface excavation in a bid to remove the top soil and in other places getting the levels right. After a couple of days the ministry is hit with an additional works variation equivalent to 10,000 cubic meters of rock excavations valued at kshs 20m!! The ministry does not know what to do with it since there is no personnel from the ministry to verify and measure the quantities as declared by the contractor as the fights within the ministry over the RE are still ranging. Two months later the ministry is hit with yet another rock excavation variation amounting to 18,000 cubic metres valued at ksh 36m!!. This time, the contractor declares that he is going to suspend the works unless the additional works have been approved. The contractor gives a two weeks ultimatum or notice of intention to suspend the works. Also three months down the line since the commencement of the roads project, the contractor has not been paid even a single cent for the works so far done and contained in the previous three works done and payment valuations (the first valuation, kshs 20m…the second valuation, kshs 18m…the third valuation ksh15m).
Three weeks later the contractor suspends the works and immediately sends some of the staff back to Nairobi, but leaves a skeleton staff. At the ministry, the heads are now rolling seriously…No COW and no RE, the contractor has not been paid and to make the matters worse, the contractor has suspended the works!!!
...besides, the presence of a safe alone does not signify that there is money inside...