The Gov’t Is Broke – Treasury To Contractors And Suppliers As Only Ksh.10B Of Ksh.641B In Pending Bills Paid

The Gov’t Is Broke – Treasury To Contractors And Suppliers As Only Ksh.10B Of Ksh.641B In Pending Bills Paid

Contractors and suppliers owed by the national government will have to wait longer for payment because the 2024/2025 budget only allocates Ksh.10 billion to settle the debt.

Ndindi Nyoro, Chairperson of the National Assembly Budget and Appropriation Committee, says suppliers and contractors could not be budgeted for because the Ksh.641 billion in pending bills was still being verified.

Those who have supplied goods and services to the national government face a cloud of uncertainty for another year, as their payment claims will be scrutinized further.

So far, the Pending Bills Verification Committee, chaired by former Auditor General Edward Ouko, has submitted its first report, clearing Ksh.110 billion in pending bills.

According to Nyoro, the bills will need to be verified further, so the committee has decided to create a special pending bills kitty with an initial allocation of Ksh.10 billion.

“We have in this budget allocated Ksh.10 billion to pending bills because we want to start the payment of those bills,” said the Kiharu lawmaker.

“The verification process is ongoing, that’s why there was no need to allocate a lot of money…but this amount will be enhanced.”

The budget committee claims it has included irreducible minimums in the budget, including the hiring of all Junior Secondary School (JSS) intern teachers on permanent and pensionable contracts.

“We have given the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Ksh.18 billion to ensure all those intern teachers are hired on permanent and pensionable terms and TSC must not wait until January,” Nyoro added.

However, the minority side claims that the proposed budget’s funding is punitive to taxpayers.

“What we have not agreed is the funding…when we bring a Finance Bill that is increasing the cost of commodities, that is again taking us backwards,” Embakasi East MP Babu Owino said.

National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi added: “The taxes in that Bill are too much and this time round we must reject the Finance Bill across the aisle.”

As the Treasury prepares to unveil the budget on Thursday afternoon, the recurrent expenditure vote remains a headache.

The Senate, for its part, has imposed ceilings on county recurrent expenditures.

The Gov’t Is Broke – Treasury To Contractors And Suppliers As Only Ksh.10B Of Ksh.641B In Pending Bills Paid