Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o has sounded a warning to contractors owed by the county government for allegedly harassing staff whilst seeking payments from the County Treasury.
In a statement on Wednesday, Nyong’o said contractors who will continue conducting themselves unprofessionally in pursuit of their monies risk being deregistered.
“While we acknowledge that we owe money to some of the suppliers, this does not give anyone the license to flout procedures and cause tension in public offices,” Nyong’o said.
“These individuals have not only used foul language but also issued threats against our staff. Some individuals have resorted to mob psychology, bullying our staff and demanding payments without following proper procedures,” he added.
The governor called on the contractors doing business with the county government to conduct themselves with decorum while visiting county offices.
He said the county leadership will not tolerate further misbehaviour by individuals at any county office as arrangements continue to be made to clear the pending bills owed to suppliers.
“This mob psychology must end. The department awards contracts to individual entities not amorphous groups,” Nyong’o said.
In her report, Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o said monies owed to suppliers by all the 47 devolved units stood at Sh158 billion as at February, 2023.
She said these comprised Sh157.18 billion owed by the executive and Sh1.63 billion owed by county assemblies.
Nyakang’o said in the report Kisumu county owed Sh1.67 billion to contractors doing business with it with Nairobi accounting for the lion’s share of the cumulative figure at Sh100.36 billion, equivalent to 63.2 per cent.
Following the release of the report, Kisumu appealed to contractors and suppliers to be patient, reiterating their commitment to pay them as soon as money was released from the National Treasury.
Contractors have been persistently complaining about delayed payments but the county government stated that the delay had been occasioned by the late disbursement of the money by the National Treasury.
