WAIKENDA: Parliament should criminalise pending bills

A Wagoner was driving a heavy load along a muddy road. He came to a part of the road where the wheels sank halfway into the mire and the more the horses pulled, the deeper the wheels sank.

So the Wagoner threw down his whip, knelt down and prayed to Hercules the Strong. “O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress.” But Hercules appeared to him and said: “Tut, man, don’t sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel.”

Kenya is at a point where we must all pull our weight to ensure that we get things moving. Now that elections are behind us, we must focus on the issues affecting the country, starting with the economy.

We have slowly but surely become a nation of debt. Everywhere you look, debt seems to be the prevailing commodity. The previous administration has left a debt of Sh8.6 trillion, an increase of almost Sh7 trillion since the Kibaki administration left with a debt of Sh1.9 trillion.

We are now spending more than a third of the budget to service debts. In the current financial year, Kenya will spend Sh1.36 trillion on debt repayment, up from Sh1.15 trillion.

Debt repayments have for the first time overtaken the national government’s recurrent spending on items such as civil servant salaries. This is not how a country should be run as this money can go to other appropriate development ventures.

Recently, it was revealed many counties owe suppliers billions, with the entire amount of the 47 governments plus the national government coming to over Sh500 billion.

Data from the National Treasury states that pending bills climbed to Sh504.7 billion in the last financial year. This means that the government owes suppliers money that is almost equal to the public wage bill of Sh520 billion.

As a matter of priority, the new administration must expedite the resolution of the pending bills so that the government can meet its obligations and facilitate better economic performance.

The borrowing by the government seems to be pushing Kenyans to a similar culture where many have turned to mobile loans, borrowing billions of shillings per day. Due to the cash flow that is inconsistent in the country, millions of Kenyans have been listed as defaulters by the Credit Reference Bureau.

County governments owe suppliers more than Sh128 billion. Nairobi, Kiambu, Mombasa, Wajir, Machakos and Tana River are among the counties with the highest level of pending bills at Sh84.01 billion, Sh5.12 billion, Sh4.29 billion, Sh3.82 billion, Sh2.80 billion and Sh2.41 billion.

When did we become a nation of living beyond our means? Is this a cause or a result of the weak economy? When will enough be enough?

All the pending bills at the national and county governments means that incoming administrations will be left with the arduous task of deciding to either pay the bills or ignore them.

The people who took loans to supply counties are now reeling in debt, with no end in sight. These debts are also constricting cash in the economy, thus, making the country continue to suffer economically.

Most Kenyans usually take the loans knowing that once the work is done, the government will pay them and they can sort the loans and use the money earned to expand their businesses. But this has not been the case over the years and should stop as a matter of urgency.

Parliament must come to the aid of Kenyans, and criminalise pending bills. The books must balance at the end of the year and no county should be allowed to spend more than it has.

A governor and his/her executive should be surcharged if the county spends more than it can afford. Counties should not push Kenyans into the debt zone by failing to pay bills on time.

Parliament should come up with laws that require public institutions to settle debts owed to suppliers within a set period. Failure to do this, those responsible should be made to pay any penalties that will cover the loss of income for the Kenyans who choose to do business with government.

Political and communications consultant. @MachelWaikenda