NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 12 – The official residence of the vice president, which is under construction in Karen, will be completed in the next two months with a formal handover to the government slated for December 13.
Public Works Minister Chris Obure inspected the project on Wednesday and announced that 85 percent of the works have already been completed with only interior finishing remaining.
Speaking during a routine inspection of the project, the Minister said that the work so far done was of satisfactory quality.
The project which commenced in January 2006 was expected to cost the government about Sh383 million.
Obure confirmed that the government had recovered a performance bond and advance payment guarantee of Sh37 million from the guaranteeing bank after the termination of the first contract in 2008.
“The matter is still at the level of arbitration, we are all interested in the amicable settlement of the matter, but as far as government is concerned we have recovered what we are supposed to recover and so the government and the public have not lost money on the project,” he stated.
The contractor in charge of the site Vittorio Veneziano has also assured that the contract sum agreed will not be altered as a result of the fluctuating exchange rates as all the materials he needed were on site.
“Everything we need is already on site; there is no provision for revision of the contract sum and so despite the exchange rates we do not foresee a revision,” said Veneziano.
“We do not also expect to have further completion extensions unless of course there is an unfortunate (incident), we should hand over on the stipulated date for completion,” he reiterated.
Vice president Kalonzo Musyoka could be the first occupant of the official residence if he opts to move in for the final year in office before the next general elections.
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