The government has issued a directive asking the county governments and State Departments that have not cleared their pending bills to do so before November 30.
All the affected counties and departments have been urged by the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua to indicate that they are willing to settle the matter by reporting to his office.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had ordered the state ministries, departments and agencies during the Madaraka Day celebrations to clear their pending bills.
"Note that the government has made a commitment to complete these payments by 30th November 2019. I urge everyone involved to take the necessary measures to meet the deadline," part of Joseph Kinyua's statement read.
Most counties seemed to have ignored Uhuru’s directive, sending most contractors and suppliers into oblivion into untold agony and suffering.
During the Madaraka Day event, Uhuru gave two directives including compelling the state corporations from trading in treasury bills and directing the state corporations to clear pending bills from the suppliers.
Fifteen counties have since not cleared their pending bills.
These are Nairobi, Narok, Machakos, Vihiga, Isiolo, Tana River, Migori, Tharaka-Nithi, Bomet, Kirinyaga, Nandi, Mombasa, Kiambu, Garissa and Baringo counties.
These counties have persistently failed to pay eligible pending bills which in practice should be the first charge before on the subsequent financial year.
This week, the Senate called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to probe the Sh130 billion pending bills in counties.
The lawmakers want DCI boss George Kinoti and DPP Noordin Haji to swiftly swing into action and unravel the mystery behind the ballooning bills across the 47 county governments.
The call comes hot on the heels of a special audit by Auditor General that unearthed shocking details of how some unscrupulous officers in the counties inflated the pending bills figures.
In the report released in June, the auditor revealed that at least Sh35 billion of pending bills in the counties were fake (ineligible), putting governors and their finance and procurement officers on the spot.
However, it has emerged that some county governments have not paid their contractors for years despite the audit and other internal vetting showing that the bills are genuine.
