This archive report was first published on 11 December 2019.
Kenya's Treasury has taken a tough stance against counties that have failed to settle their outstanding bills, blacklisting 35 counties and withholding cash disbursements to them.
According to a Treasury circular dated December 5, the affected counties are Taita Taveta, Kisumu, Bungoma, Siaya, Turkana, Meru, Samburu, Nakuru, Muranga, Mandera, Kisii, Busia, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Embu, Kakamega, Marsabit, Kitui, Wajir, and Lamu.
The move is aimed at pressuring counties to honour payments owed to individuals and firms that did business with them.
Acting National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani justified the decision, stating that the ministry is mandated to intervene at the county level for purposes of expenditure control in cases where the county governments are involved in serious or persistent material breach of the law relating to public financing.
Yattani instructed the affected counties to provide the ministry with a repayment plan, specifying age and how they intend to clear the pending bills with priority given to earlier years, amounts, and details of payees.
Meanwhile, an audit of the pending bills by the office of the Auditor General revealed that Nairobi has the highest outstanding bills at Sh19.4 billion, followed by Turkana (Sh4 billion), Mombasa (Sh3 billion), and Nakuru (Sh2 billion).
The Council of Governors has protested the move, stating that none of the 47 counties had received the November disbursement.
