The National Youth Service is once again on the spot after revelations it has not paid its suppliers and contractors their dues for several years.
A group of contractors and suppliers have petitioned the National Assembly seeking the House's intervention to unlock their payment by the agency that has been riddled with graft allegations.
“The petitioners seem to have knocked on door without success. It is for this reason that they now seek the assistance of the National Assembly as a matter well within its authority,” Speaker Justin Muturi said.
The speaker relayed the petition to the House on Thursday.
The lot said it was engaged by NYS to supply goods and offer various services between 2013 and 2018.
In the petition, they said during the period, NYS initiated various projects and programmes including the rebranding of the agency, slum upgrading projects and youth and women empowerment programmes across the country.
“They further aver that in line with the terms of engagement, they delivered on their contractual obligations to the satisfaction of the agency and were therefore entitled to payment for the goods and/or services rendered,” Muturi said.
The suppliers said they have suffered for years after NYS and the parent ministry froze all payments following multi-million shilling corruption scandals that rocked Agency in 2015.
Consequently, a Multi-Agency Verification Committee was established by the ministries of Public Service and the National Treasury to verify all pending bills and claims against the NYS.
“The petitioners state that the Multi-Agency Verification Committee tendered its report and recommended the payment of the genuine and verified suppliers and contractors.”
“However, the petitioners observe that this has not happened despite a presidential directive for all public entities to clear all verified pending bills owed to suppliers and contractors,” the speaker said.
“The petitioners now seek the intervention of this House to cause the concerned parties to process the verified payments to the suppliers to avert further suffering as some are servicing loans and other credit facilities,” Muturi said.
He directed the House Finance Committee to immediately take up the petition, probe and report its findings to the House and to the petitioners.
“In considering the issues herein and whatever recommendations it makes, may I implore the committee to ensure you address the fact that it is possible there were genuine suppliers even before the scandals and who have not been paid to date.
“You may therefore attempt to separate the genuine suppliers and the others as that seem to be the bone of contention, which has clearly had detrimental effects to numerous genuine merchants,” he said.
-Edited by SKanyara
