How unscrupulous sub-contractors are turning the desperation of labourers into a goldmine

They wake up very early in the morning all in the hope of being able to secure themselves menial jobs at construction sites that pay meagre wages and are notoriously unpredictable.It is obvious that they are all from poor backgrounds that seem to have bogged down their lives but certainly not their sense of optimism.Oversleeping is surely not an option for them if the hope of evading the unedifying prospect of retiring to bed on empty stomachs is to be kept alive and kicking. Assembling at various construction sites as early as 7a.m has become a daily routine almost  a ritual. Some of them are well-educated with university degrees yet they have not been able to secure well-paying,white-collar jobs as you would expect. Others have never seen the inside of a classroom given their poor backgrounds.

Not even the drizzle of the chilly morning emasculates their resolve to venture out to these sites.''Many are called but few are chosen'' is an adage that gains validation here;only a handful of them are picked.The poor unlucky ones are forced to retreat to their abodes crestfallen or try their luck elsewhere.You can see the devastation on their faces as the bitter reality of not making the cut dawns with ruthless clarity.This effectively means that waking up at the break of dawn was an exercise in futility or so it seems.The early bird in this case fails to catch the desperately sought-after worm. Interestingly enough,the failure of yesterday doesn't impede their resolve to try again and again.

In this industry, foremen who are also  the sub-contractors invariably call the shots. Their duty is to organise for labour and also pay for it. Small contracts are given to them by the contractors who then provide them with the payment funds after the completion of the contracts. This ultimately confers upon them (foremen), the power to select among the many who turn up at these sites. But what exactly does it take to catch the selective eyes of these overseers? A closer scrutiny reveals a chilling state of affairs; systemic corruption engineered by unscrupulous individuals motivated by reprehensible financial gain at the expense of the poor labourers who depend on the meagre wages for their subsistence.

Vincent Asivave, a labourer at a construction site in Kasarani says he has to agree to part with 100 bob which is deducted from his daily wage leaving him with a paltry 250 shillings. He has no choice but to accede to the demands of these corrupt foremen. ''There's nothing I can do unless I want to go to bed hungry. I have two kids and a wife who depend on me for food, shelter and clothing. I cannot risk,'' he says ruefully and with an acute sense of resignation. ''It's just beyond us,''he adds. Those who are headstrong enough not to tow this corrupt line are blacklisted and totally bypassed when the selection for labourers happens. It is perhaps not surprising that scores of the labourers are willing to tow the line without throwing any tantrums turning their desperation into a goldmine for the corrupt overseers. To be in good standing with the selectors one has to part with money. The highest bidders carry the day and are able to boost their chances of being selected again.

In extreme cases the foremen vanish into thin air with the cash meant for paying labourers, leaving behind people who are confused, totally devastated and even contemplating suicide. At a construction site in Maziwa estate, a woman who was a mother of four jumped from a building after the reality dawned on her that  her foreman had suddenly disappeared with her cash. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the Kiambu hospital. ''We lodged our complaints with the Chinese contractor but he said there was nothing he could do as he had paid all the money to the sub-contractor. His contract was with the sub-contractor not with us,'' says Bonface Ogolla who was in the lot that was conned. The sub-contractor disappeared with a whooping 150,000 shillings meant for paying 52 workers including masons and their helpers. Attempts at tracking down the rogue sub-contractor failed to yield any fruits as his phone number was not going through. The work of the labourers for two weeks was all in vain. Since this incident,the Chinese contractor has put in place measures to ensure the incident doesn't recurr. All foremen are required to produce a certificate of good conduct as a matter of operational principle. In addition,they have to provide a letter of recommendation from their previous exploits for consideration. A headcount of the labourers is taken before any payment is done.The money is not paid directly to the foremen accounts in lumpsome but to the individual accounts of the labourers. All the workers are asked to report suspicious conduct from their supervisors.

Even with such measures in place, it is difficult to entirely tame these conmen. This is because they recruit labour and they may influence the workers to give them money inorder to be considered. Those who frequent these sites are very poor and may easily fall to the evil antics of rogue practitioners. It is therefore incumbent on contractors to carry out thorough background checks of the sub-contractors to ensure that those who work hard are not taken for a ride.

Rogue sub-contructors should be banished from the industry by having their accreditation certificates voided and prosecuted to serve as a lesson to others with similar nefarious intentions.