KDRTV News Kisumu-The City Manager of Kisumu,  Mr. Aballa Wanga has warned a contractor who erected containers on a sewer line to desist from going against the contract agreement and might lose his contract.

The Spacebuster owner Newton Babior went against the contract agreement and has been erecting the said containers in non gazetted areas which made the City Manager order the demolition of the containers with immediate effect while he oversaw the demolition.

The County Government of Kisumu released a letter to the effect detailing the agreement and instructions on how the Government wanted the contract to be executed. The County is also accusing the said contractor of charging exorbitant prices on the containers which were initially meant to assist SMEs to grow and the prices were to be Kshs. 3500.00 while SpaceBuster is charging between 7,000 to 10,000 and others as high as Kshs.15,000.00.

But in a rejoinder, Spacebuster owners have come out guns blazing and have threatened to take the City of Kisumu management to court over the demolition of their property and accusing the City manager of having some political interests and has decided to frustrate him.

PRESS STATEMENT ON CONTAINERS

CITY OF KISUMU

 FALSE ALLEGATIONS ON PLACEMENT OF CONTAINERS

Our attention has been drawn to reports on social media attributed to one Newton Babior who is making alarmist and false claims that the Kisumu City management has unlawfully removed several of his 40-foot containers from the Central Business District (CBD).

The said Babior has been using poorly photo-shopped pictures of himself and some senior County leaders in a desperate attempt to prove that he was close to the County leadership. We also caution Mr. Babior to stop spreading malicious reports against the management of City Hall and the County because of his self-inflicted business wounds attributed to poor business strategies and lack of consultations.

To set the record straight on the absurd claims by the said investor, the City of Kisumu wishes to state as follows:

1. Sometimes in 2020, the Kisumu City Board saw it fit to cushion small-scale traders who had been displaced by the re-organization of the city. It was decided that a controlled number of containers be allowed at gazetted locations in the fringes of the CBD. Tenders were floated inviting those who had the capacity to supply containers for the SMEs. Four firms applied and one of them-Spacebuster won the contract to place containers at gazetted
2. During subsequent meetings, officials from Spacebuster- which is associated with the said Babior met the City management and were given specific directives and rules on where NOT to place the containers. Sewer lines were no go zones, as was pathways and on top of Paved

CITY OF KISUMU

3. The contractor was warned against subjecting traders to exorbitant rent. He was told not to charge more than Ksh 3,500 per cubicle. He went a head-to-levy between Ksh 7,000 to Ksh 10,000 per cubicle. The mess had
4. Before the City management realized it, the company had placed a dozen containers on top of sewer lines and underneath powerlines next to Telkom. Traders protested. He refused to

5. The company went ahead to flout several clauses in the agreement. We cautioned him. He refused to listen and continued to import more
6. On Tuesday night, while working under the cover of darkness, the Company workers sneaked several contained – curiously painted in County colours into the area next to former Akamba Bus offices. It had flouted another agreement because this area was not gazetted for the containers, having been cleared last year by Kenya Railways bulldozers. The City management was alerted by concerned ‘wenye inchi’. The containers were swiftly removed. Hatemongers went to work.
7. We want to state clearly that as City management we had no agenda against the said company but we will not allow any individual or investor to create disorder where we have worked hard to create order. We will not allow any entity to exploit our traders because

building the County’s Small and Medium Enterprise is our priority.

CITY OF KISUMU

8. This is why, we, in conjunction with the national government and other partners, are putting up ultra-modern markets and creating business-friendly
9. We wish to tell our people, especially traders to ignore the propaganda being spread by the said Babior and his bloggers. He won the tender but has since shot himself on the foot by doing what he was not supposed to do. As a young entrepreneur, he could have worked smart by following the rules and protecting our small traders against

ABALA M. WANGA

Ag. KISUMU CITY MANAGER

31^st March 2021

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