Contractors will have to wait longer before they can be paid as new governors carry out forensic audits on the huge pending bills they have inherited
Some of the governors are keen not to settle fictitious bills. The pending bills are running into billions of shillings.
The governors want the bills investigated even as they begin to settle into their offices.
In their bid to stop rogue officers from siphoning money from the county coffers, the new county chiefs have instructed county secretaries to stop any payment of the pending bills. Auditors are currently combing documents in the finance departments to ensure the debts are genuine.
Kilifi governor Gideon Mung’aro has directed the county secretary to suspend paymentsdue to county contractors, suppliers, and service providers.
Mung’aro, in his letter suspending the payments, said the decision is meant to ensure a seamless transition.
“To facilitate a seamless transition, and in accordance with the provisions of Article 201 of the Constitution of Kenya and the Public Finance Management Act and attendance regulations, I do hereby suspend all payments due to contractors, suppliers, and service providers with effect from the date of this letter,” reads part of the letter.
Figures released by Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA) show Kilifi has Sh1.5 billion in uncleared pending bills.
Migori Governor Ochillo Ayacko, who has inherited Sh800 million in pending bills, said he will only offset verified claims. For any of the bills to be paid, they must be supported with documentary evidence.
Ayacko, during a briefing on his first day in the office, said his government will only clear pending bills that have been verifiable.
“We have received a report that we have quite a sizeable debt in pending bills. However, we’ll need to verify them before paying,” the governor said.
Ayacko plans to put in place verification committees to ensure that what his administration pays for brought value to residents.
Nyandarua’s Kiarie Badilisha has also caused anxiety among contractors and service providers after declaring that he will not settle pending bills of over Sh800 million.
On his first day in office on Monday, Dr Kiarie who took over from Francis Kimemia, ordered a forensic audit of the debts.
“Some of these bills are fabricated and that is why we are not going to pay them until a thorough audit is done. We are not going to tolerate corruption in this county,” he said.
He warned officials in the county treasury that anyone found to have exaggerated the bills will be sacked and legal action taken against them.
“We will also prosecute them as per the law. We cannot have non-finished projects yet the contractors demanding payments,” said the governor.
“We feel that corrupt deals had been going. How do we have such huge pending bills while some of these projects are not complete? he said.
In Laikipia, Ndiritu Muriithi’s regime left behind a pending bill of Sh4 billion. New governor Joshua Irungu has indicated his administration will clear the debt in phases.
“We have inherited a huge debt that will likely eat up most of our county budget. However, I have approached development partners to help us achieve our development goals moving forward,” said Irungu.
Taita Taveta governor Andrew Mwadime said the pending bills inherited will be interrogated before any payment is made. He said he will form a committee to verify the bills’ authenticity.
But even as this is going on, some counties have prioritized bills touching on health to reduce the suffering of residents seeking medical services.
In Murang’a, governor Irungu Kang’ata said: “The major challenge I am facing is to ensure the health facilities are working. We have entered into a contract with Kemsa to supply drugs as we clear a debt of Sh35 million in phases.”
During his inauguration, Kang’ata called for investigations into the pending bills of Sh2 billion he has inherited from the Mwangi wa Iria’s administration.
Embu governor Cecily Mbarire said she will be seeking approval of a supplementary budget by the MCAs once sworn in, to resuscitate the county’s health sector.
The budget is to pay up some of the pending bills owed to the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) totalling Sh50 million from the previous regime.
Ms Mbarire further revealed that the county government had paid Sh35 million to offset part of the debt as goodwill to allow Kemsa to release more drugs.
“Today, we have made commitments to Kemsa to settle part of the pending bills left by the past administration to the tune of Sh35.8 million,” Mbarire said.
She revealed that she had inherited pending bills of Sh2.2 billion which she said presented the biggest challenge since it exceeds the annual development budget.
“We shall carry out a forensic audit of the pending bills and where necessary take legal action,” she said.
In Mombasa, governor-elect Abdulswamad Nassir will have to deal with low revenue collection, burgeoning wages, and pending bills amounting to Sh4.29 billion.
Nassir of ODM emerged as the winner in the election held on Monday after he garnered 119,083 votes beating his closest challenger Hassan Omar of UDA who got 97,108 votes.
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