Bungoma Governor and President William Ruto’s re-election campaign coordinator for the Western, Kenneth Lusaka, during the inspection of Misikhu Modern Market in Webuye/HANDOUTBungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka has put contractors he described as “lazy” on notice, warning against delays that he said could undermine President William Ruto’s re-election bid.
Lusaka, who is Ruto’s re-election campaign coordinator for Western, said incompetence, delays and poor workmanship will no longer be tolerated as they risk undermining the government’s development agenda ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The governor made the remarks while addressing residents at Misikhu Market, shortly after inspecting the progress of the ongoing works at the Misikhu Modern Market project alongside Webuye East MP Martin Wanyinyi and Bungoma Senator David Wakoli.
Lusaka said the slow implementation of public projects was increasingly exposing the Kenya Kwanza administration to public criticism, despite significant investments and development initiatives undertaken by Ruto’s administration.
“We will not allow lazy contractors to derail President Ruto’s re-election because of incompetence and a slow pace of work execution,” Lusaka said.
He said contractors had a responsibility to ensure that projects commissioned by the government were completed on time, warning that delays were frustrating residents and creating the perception that the government was failing to deliver on its development promises.
Lusaka said the Misikhu Modern Market was expected to be completed within the agreed project timeline, but expressed concern that the pace of construction had fallen short of expectations.
He challenged the contractor to increase the pace of work and ensure the project is completed within the stipulated deadline, saying residents should not continue waiting for facilities intended to improve their livelihoods, support traders and stimulate local economic activities.
“President Ruto has done so much in terms of development, but one of the biggest challenges derailing the projects initiated under Kenya Kwanza is the incompetence and laxity of some contractors,” Lusaka said.
The Governor argued that the slow completion of projects was unfairly shifting public anger towards the President and the government when, in some cases, responsibility lay squarely with contractors charged with executing the projects.
He said contractors must therefore “shape up” and match government investment with timely and quality project delivery.
Lusaka maintained that the government would not allow poorly performing contractors to frustrate development programmes or complicate Ruto’s political equation ahead of the 2027 elections.
He called on contractors executing government projects across Bungoma to adhere strictly to contractual obligations, accelerate stalled works and deliver projects that meet the expectations of residents.
“The public is complaining about incomplete projects, but in many cases the problem is not the President or the government. The problem is the contractor on site who is taking too long to complete the work,” he said.
The governor said timely completion of public projects was critical to demonstrating the impact of government programmes and ensuring residents directly benefit from the development agenda.
