• This week, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko committed a new Supplementary Appropriation Bill allocating Sh3.5 billion to Nairobi Metropolitan Service .
• The bill has been committed to the County Assembly for consideration.
Residents in Nairobi will benefit from Covid-19 intervention funds, if a Supplementary Appropriation Bill is passed before June 30.
To date, besides the fumigation process which took place in March, the Nairobi government has not made any other interventions.
Assembly Finance, Budget and Appropriation Committee chairman Robert Mbatia on Tuesday said a supplementary budget is the only tool the county can use to address the coronavirus pandemic.
“If we don’t pass a supplementary budget, Covid-19 interventions as a county will be minimal. Nairobians will suffer because we will have not given them what they deserve as far as Covid interventions are concerned,” he said .
Mbatia said the county has around Sh50 million in the emergency fund which will not be enough to address Covid-19 pandemic.
“If you compare with what other counties are doing, Nairobi is behind, only that we are lucky that the Ministry of Health is here in the capital. But as far as the county government is concerned, nothing much has been done,” he explained.
Last week, Nairobi Metropolitan Service raised concerns service delivery may experience a set back due to lack of funds.
NMS director general Mohammed Badi said with no funds it will be difficult for the county to set up an isolation centre.
“It is not an easy job to set up an isolation centre but we are working hand in hand with the Ministry of Health to ensure that the capability is there to handle cases that arise in Nairobi,” Badi said.
This week, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko committed a new Supplementary Appropriation Bill allocating Sh3.5 billion to Nairobi Metropolitan Service .
The bill has been committed to the County Assembly for consideration.
The Badi-led team has been allocated some Sh2.25 billion for recurrent expenditure and Sh1.25 billion for development.
Pending bills and unpaid casual workers
The Budget Committee through its chairman also pointed out that issues on pending bills need to be addressed in a supplementary budget.
Paying contractors and suppliers are said to boost the economy of Nairobi.
“If payments of pending bills are done, someone will be able to also pay his dues, a Mama Mboga somewhere will add stock to her business, hardware will pay contractors and sign more deals. Meaning there will be a cut in backlog on government dependency,” Mbatia explained.
Early this year, the county had paid some pending bills to lawyers, Kemsa, garbage collectors, and KRA .
Sh 121 million was paid to the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority, which was part of the Sh1.4 billion approved for clearance by the Pending Bills Committee and the Office of the Auditor General.
Between October and December last year, Sh3 billion statutory payments were made by the county to the Kenya Revenue Authority.
As of the end of last year, the county government said it had cleared Sh4.2 billion of pending bills.
At the same time, 850 casual workers in Nairobi have not been paid by the county.
Mbatia, who is also Kariobangi South Ward rep, revealed that the casuals consisting of garbage collectors and beautification programme workers are also looking to the county government for pay.
The workers protested on Monday over their unpaid salaries, but Sonko stated they will be paid at least Sh62 million next month, if the Supplementary budget will be approved.
“The only we can address all these issues is through a tool called the supplementary budget. If the Executive can come up with one before the financial year ends and factor these three key issues, city residents will be grateful and burdens will be cut,” he stated.