Nandi assembly wants all pending bills disclosed.
The House also wants Stephen Sang's administration to declare the plans it has to clear the debt. Nandi is one of the 15 counties targetted by the National Treasury over bills. The ministry plans to block the disbursement of their development and conditional grants.
Yesterday, MCAs held a crisis meeting to deliberate on the way forward ahead of the December 1 deadline set by the Treasury on clearance of cash owed to contractors and suppliers. Emmanuel Rono of Ol’Lessos said he had drafted a motion on pending bills, which amount to Sh1.2 billion, according to the Treasury. The county says it owes only Sh262 million and has cleared Sh629 million.
Rono warned that residents would be the biggest losers should the Treasury make good its threat. The motion seeks to compel the county to disclose the exact sum owed and the measures it has put in place to settle it ahead of the Treasury deadline so it can get further allocations.
Rono wants Finance executive Alfred Lagat to appear before the assembly over the impasse. "The assembly had, in April 2019, approved the settlement of Sh780 million as part of the pending bills. It’s surprising the National Treasury is quoting Sh1.2 billion," he said.
But in a swift response, Lagat said the Treasury erred by blacklisting the county. He said they owe only Sh262 million after paying Sh629 million. He added that the county has Sh400 million illegal pending bills.
"The rest of the bills have major queries, most are under active investigation by the EACC as procurement procedures were flouted, while others are fake and for ghost projects," he said.
The MCAs said Lagat must appear before them within the next seven days.
(Edited by F'Orieny)