- Osotsi called for improvements to be made in how counties carry out their budgeting process.
- He is the chair of the Senate County Investments and Special Funds Committee.
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Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi has expressed concerns over an increase in the counties that are yet to clear pending bills.
Osotsi said the pending bills in some counties are playing a huge part in the lack of efficiency in service delivery for Kenyans.
“I think the issue of pending bills needs to be given some emphasis by the county governments because we cannot continue having pending bills when the law is very clear that the first charge is paying your debts,” he said on Citizen TV on Monday.
Osotsi called for improvements to be made in how counties carry out their budgeting process saying improper budgeting of finances in the counties has led to underperformance of revenue in the counties.
He is the chair of the Senate County Investments and Special Funds Committee
“If you don’t budget well you will have underperformance in revenue, this is a matter that needs to be looked at seriously. Are those budgets realistic? Are those targets realistic or not? I think that should be the starting point,” he said.
He said improvements in that process will lead to the counties getting closer to achieving their goals in finance-related matters.
The senator also called on the national government to ensure county funds are dispersed on time to facilitate the proper execution of functions in the counties.
“Dispersing of funds is a real problem and affects planning in counties. If you don’t release funds in time and counties have planned to undertake some projects then they will not be able to undertake the projects in time,” he said.
“I think it is important for the national government, we know there are challenges about the collection of taxes but I think we need to have an efficient process so that counties can receive money in time so that they don’t blame anyone else.”