The government has kicked off verification of pending bills process with a promise to initiate major reforms to curb reoccurrence of the problem.
- The Chair of the Pending Bills Committee, Mr. Edward Ouko said pending bills of over KSh 146 Billion have so far been received and the figures are expected to go up after the final process.
- The Ksh146 billion is against National Treasury estimate of Sh600 billion an accumulated figure the government owes small businesses.
- The 47 devolved units, on the other hand, owe suppliers and businesses about Sh159.9 billion as of June 2023.
The worrying pending bills late last year prompted the formation of a committee to look into claims running between 2005 and 2022.
The Committee consists of the Attorney General, the State Department of Roads, the State Department of Public Works, the State Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.
Representatives of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Law Society of Kenya, the Institute of Engineers of Kenya and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya will also be part of the team.
The committee is also tasked with examining and submitting interim reports to the Treasury Cabinet Secretary upon verification.
The National Treasury PS Dr. Chris Kiptoo warned that there shall be no acceptance or tolerance of accumulation of unpaid bills moving forward.
“We are cognizant of the urgent need to address the Pending Bills threat, and releasing the much-needed liquidity, facilitate better economic performance and restore confidence and hope, particularly to the MSEs micro who suffer the greatest hazard resulting from unpaid bills for delivered services,” said Kiptoo.
“The verification process has started this week, all verifiable pending bills will be paid after scrutiny, analysis, verification by the committee”, said the PS.
Pending Bills Verification Committee Sets Timeline for Claims Submission – Kenyan Wallstreet
