Verified suppliers owed by the National Youth Service can now have a sigh of relief after debts amounting to Sh6 billion were approved for payment.
The payments will be made as from Monday.
NYS suppliers are claiming Sh14 billion in unpaid bills. The others amounting to Sh8 billion are being verified by an inter-agency team and will be ready for payment as from September.
The team has members from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Attorney General (AG) and the Auditor General.
Public Service, Youth and Gender Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia told the Star that the payments follow President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive on prompt payment of verified pending bills.
Uhuru has restated the need for state agencies to pay pending bills in order to put more money in the pockets of wananchi.
“The payments will support the President’s stimulus package as the money is going to Small and Medium Entreprises (SMEs),” Kobia said.
The Cs said as long as the inter-agency team can establish that goods were ordered and received, they will conduct further checks to see if the Sh8 billion is payable.
The CS said the details of the payment of the bills – some dating back to 2013, will be made public.
NYS stopped paying suppliers at the height of investigations into allegations of fraud in payment of suppliers.
On March 19, the Cabinet unlocked Sh14 billion for settling genuine claims which have been verified by over five committees since 2015.
Most of the affected suppliers were for items used in the Jubilee’s slum improvement project.
Kobia assured Kenyans that no money will be lost in the agency, especially with the reforms which saw Matilda Sakwa appointed as a director general.
“We committed ourselves that no money will be lost here. Today, I am here to say that no money has been lost since the current DG took over,” Kobia said.
