Kisii County NAVCDP agripreneurs are in distress after signing an 18-month contract for the project. The contract clearly outlined how they would lead and work during the 18 months. However, they have only been paid for the first two months, and the payment for the third month, which was for data collection, has not yet been made. Now, three months have passed since they completed the work, and as stated, they were supposed to enter the incubation stage. Due to the delay in payment for the last month of the first stage salary, the project is now paused.
The questions are: What is the problem? Who is responsible for this? Is the contract on OR also paused? When will the payment be made? This situation has led to frustration and depression among many of the youths in the county. They are requesting the county boss, H.E. Hon. Simba Arati, to intervene and find out exactly what is happening. They have given a notice of 14 days, after which they will call for county agripreneurs’ demonstrations
The action to reach out to the senior officers of the project is bouncing back after they noticed that they made promises that are not worth keeping and told many lies regarding these promises. As a result, others have been summoned for indiscipline due to their anger over late payments. This has led young agripreneurs to view the project as a scam and to refrain from participating in any county projects in the coming days. They are requesting that action be taken.
According to the questions from the agripreneurs, the NAVCDP county office, through Mr. Okumu, has stated that, “payment is a process. He said that all the processes are in place and that payments will be made electronically.” He added that,” money comes from the national government to the CRF through a system that is electronic, and all the processes are done online, following a first-come, first-served basis. Regarding our county, the problems we had with the resignation of the CECM for finance have now been sorted out, and any time soon, all payments will be made. Progress updates will be provided as the project continues.”
“In the context of the contract, it is the responsibility of the project officers, and the contract is intact for up to 18 months. During the project period in the country, I encourage all agripreneurs to focus on the links for promotion through the project and to worry less about the contract, as the problems are being resolved. I wish every agripreneurs the best and ask everyone to be patient as they plan for the future.”