Kambi said the tendering processes will be done afresh and even those projects okayed by Odongo and already in progress will have to undergo an audit/FILE
In a statement sent to newsrooms, Kambi said the tendering processes will be done afresh and even those projects okayed by Odongo and already in progress will have to undergo an audit.
“Following the recent sacking of Tom Odongo as the Managing Trustee of NSSF, the government has cancelled all the projects that were tendered but not yet awarded or started. The projects will be tendered afresh.”
“Further, all projects awarded and ongoing will be subject to a comprehensive audit by the efficiency monitoring unit,” the statement reads.
The projects include the construction of the 39-storey Hazina Trade Centre in Nairobi, a 100 flat building in Milimani, the second phase of the parking silo at the NSSF offices and the sixth phase of a housing and shopping complex in Nyayo Embakasi.
Odongo who was sacked by Kambi a week ago has however challenged the move arguing that the Cabinet Secretary does not have the legal mandate on which to cancel the tenders.
“He has no powers under the Procurement Law to do that. Please read Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005 and Regulations of 2006,” he told Capital FM News.
Kambi did not give a reason for sacking Odongo a week ago but the move to cancel tenders he awarded raises eyebrows.
On Monday last week Odongo said he learnt of his dismissal via Twitter accusing Kambi of not even extending him the courtesy of a phone call. “I did not see any sign about this but all in all I have to follow the will of the government. The Cabinet Secretary did not even call me to inform me. It is the will of the government because we are servants,”
Regardless, Odongo said he would not be challenging Kambi’s decision to sack him. “The Cabinet Secretary is the appointing authority and has the right to do whatever he wants. Remember, we serve at the pleasure of the government.”
Hope Mwashumbe is now the acting NSSF Managing Trustee having taken over at a time when Odongo was aggressively pushing for the registration of domestic workers under the pension scheme.
