- During the unveiling of the 2021-22 budget in Parliament on June 10, Treasury CS Yatani gave the agencies up to the end of the month to settle the bills.
- The CS threatened to withhold funds to agencies and county governments that defy the directive.
Image: BY MATHEWS NDANYI
Ministries, state corporations and other government agencies have continued to ignore President Uhuru Kenyatta and National Treasury CS Ukur Yatani on the payment of pending bills.
A report by the controller of budget Margaret Nyakang’o shows that the agencies have continued to allow the bills to balloon despite decrees and warnings.
The budget implementation review report for the first quarter of 2021-22 fiscal years the national government owes suppliers and contractors Sh376.08 billion.
Out of the total outstanding debt, Sh322.2 billion is owned by state corporations while the ministries and departments account for Sh52.88 billion.
“Updated data availed by the National Treasury for MDAs shows that pending bills as of June 30, 2021 stood at Sh56.78 billion and Sh3.80 billion was paid in the first three months of the FY 2021/22,” the report states.
The debt for the ministries and departments excludes Sh100.15 billion that was considered as ineligible after the verification of the pending bills.
In 2019, Uhuru directed all national and county government agencies to clear their pending bills that did not have audit queries within a month.
During the unveiling of the 2021-22 budget in Parliament on June 10, Treasury CS Yatani gave the agencies up to the end of the month to settle the bills.
The CS threatened to withhold funds to agencies and county governments that defy the directive.
“I direct government ministries, departments and agencies and the county governments to clear all their pending bills by June 30, 2021,” Yatani had said.
However, the directives and threats appear to have been largely ignored with most of the agencies continuing to accrue more bills.
Nyakang’o warned that nonpayment of pending bills has a negative effect on the economy and recommended prioritisation of their clearance.
“All MDAs should ensure settlement of pending bills is prioritised on a First-In-First-Out basis in the FY 2021-22 to avoid further accumulation of debts and enhance liquidity and growth of the economy,” the report said.
According to the report released on Tuesday, the state departments of crop development and research, public service, Transport, Commission on Administrative Justice and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission have accumulated the highest amount of pending bills.
The state department of crop development and research which is within the larger Ministry of Agriculture headed by CS Peter Munya, owes Sh11.87 billion.
The state department of Public Service/NYS is yet to pay Sh15.57 billion while Transport department has accumulated debt amounting to Sh6.18 billion.
Departments of Sports owe Sh1.14 billion, Wildlife has Sh2.62 billion while Interior and Citizen Services is yet to pay Sh1.98 billion.
With barely months away to the August 9, 2022 elections, the IEBC is yet to pay its suppliers Sh2.24 billion with the CAJ owing Sh2.54 billion.
Other agencies and departments with huge pending bills are Regional and Northern Corridor Development (Sh2.22 billion), Judiciary (Sh642.16 million), Labour (Sh111.68 million), Petroleum (Sh338.72 million) and National Land Commission (Sh606.67 million).
Agencies and departments with zero pending bills include the National Intelligence Service, Teachers Service Commission, Office of Auditor General, Office of the Controller of Budget and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority.
-Edited by SKanyara