State Bets on KDF Company to Speedup Mega Projects.

Luther12

Elder Lister
Military to build roads and other key projects across the country.


The State has approved the formation of a military construction company that will be tasked with construction of roads and other infrastructure developments across the country.

In a move that will give the Kenya Defence Forces substantial control over Kenya’s infrastructure programme, the National Security Council has endorsed the creation of Ulinzi Construction Company, which is now preparing to begin operations.

“With the company, it will be cheaper for the government to undertake some certain construction tasks,” KDF Chief of Defence Forces Robert Kibochi said in an interview.

The top soldier said the army had the skills and capacity to build, for example, the ongoing security wall from Mandera to Kiunga much faster and at a lower budget.

“We can do it ourselves at a cheaper cost, much faster, and we will also be providing security in the areas,” he said.

The approval comes in the wake of KDF’s growing involvement in key infrastructure projects such as the rehabilitation of the Nairobi-Nanyuki and Nakuru-Kisumu railways.

Reduce cost of projects
Proponents of the Ulinzi Construction Company have hailed its formation as revolutionary, saying it would reduce building costs while minimising the risk of misuse of public funds.

The development highlights the growing influence of the KDF in the country’s economic affairs after President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed military personnel to run various State agencies in a move aimed at stopping theft of public resources among civilian officials.

Some of the key appointments include that of Lt-Gen Mohammed Badi to head the Nairobi Metropolitan Services and Col. Alice Mate as director of Assets Recovery.

Operations of the Kenya Meat Commission have also been handed over to KDF.

“The military has very proficient engineers. They rehabilitated the railways at a fraction of what was quoted by the Chinese,” a State official, who did not wish to be named, told CK.

National Construction Company
It awaits to be seen whether Ulinzi Construction Company will see the light of the day, or will suffer the same fate as the National Construction Company, which was proposed in 2015 as a subsidiary of the National Youth Service (NYS) to undertake infrastructure projects.

The company, which was expected to cut construction costs by up to 50% due to reduced labour and machinery costs, failed to materialise after the exposé of a multi-billion financial scandal at the NYS, which led to the resignation of a Cabinet Secretary.




 

Mwalimu-G

Elder Lister
Maybe the entry of a company along the lines of the Chinese Military Business Complex will sober up contractors and mandarins in the civil service who see every contract as an opportunity for a kill. You may recall a few instances where the President has said that contractors had quoted "outrageous" sums only for the army to execute the works for a fraction of the costs.
 
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wrongturn

Elder Lister
Maybe the entry of a company along the lines of the MCBC will sober up contractors and mandarins in the civil service who see every contract as an opportunity for a kill. You may recall a few instances where the President has said that contractors had quoted "outrageous" sums only for the army to execute the works for a fraction of the costs.
also the cowboys contractors have been known to do shoddy work ndo wakulie hapo for years, kama nyoro contractors each year they recarpet kabarak rd but six months later,we see huge potholes , it is the same road the ogiek senator died.
 

Aviator

Elder Lister
Our very own engineers from local universities have mess this country for years, hakuna kitu mpiya Chinese are doing which we can't do .Integrity and engineering standards ,that's all .
FYI, Kenyan universities produce very good engineers, especially in the civil and structural engineering.
Problem comes when the tenderprenuers get in the mix and need their cut, so engineers are compromised to take shortcuts. Add weak enforcement to the mix.
 

The.Black.Templar

Elder Lister
Staff member
What is the long term strategy? If uhuru wanted to impose himself for a third term? Have the military on his side, continue imposing curfew, push BBI through parliament.....
 

wrongturn

Elder Lister
What is the long term strategy? If uhuru wanted to impose himself for a third term? Have the military on his side, .....
we should be positive sometimes, our constitution is very clear on term limits, kama ni moi respected it the way he was super strong, i doubt if uhuru can extend his, he is just upgrading the military, all over the world militaries nowadays are used to help the society, there is no war in the offing, better use them instead of just playing games .
 

nakujua

Lister
I think we should fix the issues in the local construction industry, we are just kicking the can down the road. The military can be involved in emergency situations, where natural calamities have occurred. The disciplined forces, a strict command based hierarchical structure is dangerous in the day to day running of a society, criticism, questioning, interrogation, auditing ... I think are important aspects of a well functioning society, we surely cant be taking a step forward (a nice constitution) and then take 2 steps back again.
 

Mwalimu-G

Elder Lister
I think we should fix the issues in the local construction industry, we are just kicking the can down the road. The military can be involved in emergency situations, where natural calamities have occurred. The disciplined forces, a strict command based hierarchical structure is dangerous in the day to day running of a society, criticism, questioning, interrogation, auditing ... I think are important aspects of a well functioning society, we surely cant be taking a step forward (a nice constitution) and then take 2 steps back again.
We have a brand new Constitution that has not fixed these things and if anything they have worsened.
 

nakujua

Lister
We have a brand new Constitution that has not fixed these things and if anything they have worsened.
This things take time, some of the vices are deeply ingrained, generational I might even say, and they will take time to rid, but we need to keep going, keep working at it, anyone who comes into power with the notion that they can fix all that in their time in power is just delusional, but I feel we need to just continue pounding at the problems, no shortcut it's has to be for the future.
 

The.Black.Templar

Elder Lister
Staff member
we should be positive sometimes, our constitution is very clear on term limits, kama ni moi respected it the way he was super strong, i doubt if uhuru can extend his, he is just upgrading the military, all over the world militaries nowadays are used to help the society, there is no war in the offing, better use them instead of just playing games .
I fully support it, but Africa has a history that is hard to ignore too, you have heard people saying that uhuru should run for a third term out on the public and uhuru himself has not come out publicly to condemn that kind of speak. Plus allowing the military to step in and do all the work is ignoring the actual problem of corruption instead of tackling it head on.
 

Mwalimu-G

Elder Lister
I fully support it, but Africa has a history that is hard to ignore too, you have heard people saying that uhuru should run for a third term out on the public and uhuru himself has not come out publicly to condemn that kind of speak. Plus allowing the military to step in and do all the work is ignoring the actual problem of corruption instead of tackling it head on.
Why do you speak from both sides of your mouth? You blame corruption here and on the other thread you are singing praises to the high priest of corruption.
 
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