Poor management of public cash is a national scourge the Auditor-General writes scathing reports about every year without fail.
And some of the most notorious and infuriating culprits are parastatals.
Treasury CS Ukur Yatani has warned that parastatals, and even ministries, that will not have paid suppliers or prepared credible plans for settling pending bills, will not have their budgets approved.
They owe suppliers billions. The net effect of delayed payment is debilitating cash flow challenges in the private sector. In the worst-case scenario, some firms cut the number of staff, close shop or have auctioneers knocking on their doors.
Yet the business of government should be to create an environment in which private enterprises thrive, create jobs and raise living standards.
Parastatals owed contractors and suppliers Sh323 billion as of June 2021 while ministries owe Sh53 billion.
There can be no better way of frustrating or killing private business than these delayed payments.
President Kenyatta has on many occasions made pending bills the subject of warnings, but the lethargic bureaucrats ignore him.
We hope that Yatani will make good his threat and even punish the CEOs who will dare ignore his latest memo.
Quote of the Day: “Be bad, but at least don’t be a liar, a deceiver!”
Leo Tolstoy
The Russian novelist’s drama ‘Smert Ioanna Groznogo’ premiered in St Petersburg on January 12, 1867.
