• The debts have accrued over the years.
• Cash owed for items such as food, linen, and agricultural inputs, as well as construction works.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Suppliers seeking Sh6 billion in pending bills from the Prisons department will have to wait longer to get their cash.
Some could, however, miss out on the list of those who will be paid.
The debts, which have accrued over the years, are for items such as food, linen, and agricultural inputs, as well as construction works. They are under scrutiny by a team of auditors, whose report will be used for settlement.
Correctional Services PS Zeinab Hussein on Wednesday told MPs the bills pose a critical finance question as some of them are not payable.
A team of 40 auditors had verified the claims and concluded that they were not payable. After this, another multiagency team reviewed the bills and reached the same conclusion. The team began work on April 12 and on May 4 reported that they could not advise on payment unless the claims met a certain criterion.
“A third team is working round the clock to check which of the bills can be paid. We need a policy decision on this matter so we don’t go against the Public Procurement and Disposal Act,” Hussein said while presenting the department’s 2019-20 budget needs to the Committee on Administration and National Security.
“We will, of course, pay those we can and ask the ones we cannot verify their claims to go to court.”
The department has sought help from Attorney General Paul Kihara and National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi for further direction.
The lawmakers, led by chairman Paul Koinange (Kiambaa), advised against the lengthy time taken to settle bills. Some of the debts are as old as eight years. Sources at the department intimated to the Star that a number of claims are not genuine.
“Some rogue fellows have taken advantage of the delayed payment to include inexistent bills in the claims,” a senior prisons official said in confidence.
Meanwhile, the House panel raised fears that deserving SMEs could lose their cash if the bills are wholesomely declared unpayable.
The Prisons seeks Sh780 million for development for completion of ongoing projects, despite a shortfall of Sh144 million. For recurrent expenditure, it needs Sh6.9 billion for the next financial year.
PS Hussein deplored underfunding, which she blamed for the squalor and harsh conditions in the detention centres.
On employment of more staff, they requested for Sh424 million but were given Sh80 million.
She said that despite the ongoing decongestion efforts to push more inmates to probation, the receiving departments are equally financially strained. The funding gaps have even made it difficult to buy staff uniforms, she lamented.
On staff uniforms, they requested for Sh433 million but were given Sh53 million.
“Our officers have no sweaters, overcoats, and jackets. We last bought uniforms in 2016,” Hussein said, adding that the department needs more cash for bedding and linens for inmates — 90 per cent of them sleep on cold floors.
Of the Sh236 million they requested for bedding and linen, they got only Sh60 million.
The department is also unable to meet costs for meter separation as the housing allowance policy does not allow payment of staff bills.
“We are separating meters for staff quarters to have them billed differently from those charged on administration blocks and industry department,” she said.
Feeding plans for about 54,000 prisoners have also been hampered in the wake of an increased number of defective cooking appliances for lack of budget to have them replaced.
Other areas that have funding deficits include domestic travel, mainly escorting prisoners to court. There is no money for allowances for officers working away from their stations.
It also emerged during the session that the department needs more vehicles, hence the bid to lease 100 vans.
Hussein added that food and rations need Sh3.6 billion, staging a shortfall of Sh265 million, given that facilities meant to host 30,000 prisoners are overpopulated.
No allocation was made for cleaning and sanitary materials for female prisoners, while minimal funding has been provided for insecticides and sprays.